Reimagined AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Has Better Pros, Less Golf for Amateurs
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The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is undergoing a significant change this year, one that is helping what had been a sometimes lackluster field into a strong one.
As part of changes to the PGA Tour schedule that now see eight signature events and $20 million purses, AT&T elected to sign on to sponsor such a tournament.
The result is a tournament that is far from the Bing Crosby Pro-Am.
The pros will have Pebble Beach Golf Links all to themselves on the weekend.
Ray Acevedo/USA TODAY Sports
Instead of 180 players across three courses, the field has been reduced to 80 players across two. Instead of celebrity and business-type amateurs playing across Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula for the first three days, they’ll be limited to just Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill on Thursday and Friday.
And amateurs will play just two rounds.
That is a big departure from previous years in which amateurs played with their pro partner for 54 holes with a cut to the low 25 teams for the Sunday final round.
While that may be unsettling to some, the increase in field strength should be welcomed. The top 50 from last year’s final FedEx Cup standings who are eligible are playing, along with the next 10 from the FedEx Cup Fall as well as winners from this year and those in the top five in a points list that started at the Sony Open and concluded at the Farmers Insurance Open.
And A Few More Things. . .
> The four sponsor invites into the signature events will undoubtedly be scrutinized due the importance of these tournaments. Adam Scott, Peter Malnati and Webb Simpson—all PGA Tour Policy Board members—got three of the spots. The other went to Maverick McNealy. ... This is the only signature event that is filling the field to 80 players. If short, it is going to the next players on the FedEx Fall top 10 list. Most signature events will not get to 80 players. For example, the Genesis Invitational in two weeks is projected at 73 players. It can change if someone wins this week or next who was not otherwise eligible. ... Justin Thomas qualified for Pebble Beach via his top-30 world ranking (23rd).
> Matthieu Pavon’s victory at the Farmers Insurance Open made him the first player representing France to win on the PGA Tour since World War II. The Tour is making the distinction because Martin Trainer, who was born in France, played under the U.S. flag when he won the Puerto Rico Open in 2019. He has since changed his nationality to French. ... Pavon’s win came in just this third start on the PGA Tour after gaining status as the last player via the top 10 in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai last season. He won the Spanish Open last year.
> Another player who earned PGA Tour status via the Race to Dubai was Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen, who won the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday. It was his eighth DP World Tour title. ... Nicolai Hojgaard finished second to Pavon at the Farmers while his twin brother, Rasmus, finished second to Olesen. Rasmus missed a PGA Tour card via the DP World Tour by one place.
> LIV Golf begins its third season Friday but still to be made official: Who will be on Jon Rahm’s team? That is expected to be Tyrrell Hatton, whose on-again off-again talks with LIV are apparently on. An announcement is expected Tuesday. … LIV has put on its website that there will be 13 teams and 52 players, but has not announced any of that publicly. And it is expected there will be 54 players, meaning two extra players who do not compete on teams each week. ... Other signings to be announced include Adrian Meronk, who would go to the Cleeks captained by Martin Kaymer, and Lucas Herbert, who would join Cam Smith’s all-Aussie team. ... The first round of the Masters is 73 days away.
