Week #6 - Fantasy Golf - AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM, Pebble Beach, CA - Feb. 6-9, 2014

Field for AT & T Pebble Beach Pro Am - PGA Tour

Top Picks
Jeremy's Picks:  Hunter Mahan, Graeme McDowell, Jason Day
Matt's Picks:  Hunter Mahan, Jason Day, Jordan Speith
Cathy's Picks:  Dustin Johnson, Jimmy Walker, Hunter Mahan
Chuck's Picks:  Jimmy Walker, Jason Day, Hunter Mahan
Drew's Picks: Jason Day, Graeme McDowell, Dustin Johnson

Dark Horses (dark horse criteria= outside top 50 on OWGR as of 12/1/13)
Jeremy's Picks:  Patrick Reed, James Driscoll, Pat Perez
Matt's Picks:  Matt Jones, Pat Perez, Will McKenzie
Cathy's Picks: Freddie Jacobson, Jerry Kelly, Greg Chalmers
Chuck's Picks:  Matt Jones, Bryce Molder, Spencer Levin
Drew's Picks:  Patrick Reed, Kevin Stadler, Kevin Na

Read below for why our Pro's picked who they did!!

Jeremy's Picks:
Hunter Mahan - Seems to have gotten into the swing of things with a tie for 4th in Phoenix.  He has finished in the top 16 the past 3 years at the AT&T and should be an asset for your team this week.
 
Graeme McDowell - Beginning his 2014 season here for the first time since winning the US Open at Pebble Beach.  McDowell has finished in the top 15 in his last 3 events played and should not be overlooked this week.
 
Jason Day - He has 2 top 10 finishes here over the past few years.  His only tournament of 2014 was a tie for 2nd at the Farmers.  His hot play should continue here.

Dark Horses:
Patrick Reed - Its kind of hard to call Reed a dark horse with the 3 top 20's he has posted this year including a win at the Humana.
 
James Driscoll - He has been kind of hit and miss this year with many low rounds accompanied by a few high rounds.  He finished in 9th here last year and should be able to put together more low rounds than high.
 
Pat Perez - Perez has seemed to gain a little maturity recently, and that has translated in a positive way to the golf course.  Over his past 4 events he has accumulated 3 top 15 finishes.

Matt's Picks:
Hunter Mahan - Mahan looked good last week at the WMO and finished strong to earn a tie for 4th. He was 2nd in the field for stroked gained putting at Scottsdale, and tied for 12th in greens hit. This will be Mahan's third start of the season. He has played well in this event the previous three years, earning T16 or better. In 2011, Mahan placed runner-up behind D.A. Points.  

Jason Day  - This will be Day's second start on the season, after placing 2nd in the Farmers Insurance Open. His ball striking was on mark at Torrey Pines, hitting over 76% of greens on the week. If Day can improve on his putting this week, we should see him in contention on Sunday. Day has played in this event on four occasions, earning two 6th place finishes and another top fifteen.  

Jordan Spieth - After missing the cut in the Sony Open, Spieth got right back to business earning a top twenty at the Farmers Insurance Open. After having a week off, I expect Spieth to continue his world class play. Spieth played in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last season, earning a tie for 22nd place.

Dark Horses:

Matt Jones -  Matt Jones is coming off a T12 at the Waste Management Open, where he co-led the tournament after Friday. He has made five of six cuts on the season, including two top fifteen performances in the last month. Jones has entered the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am six times since 2008. He placed T30 here last season, had a top fifteen in 2011, and finished with a top ten in 2010. 
Pat Perez - Pat Perez has a ton of experience at this event, playing in it eleven times.  Although he hasn't had great success here as of late, he did finish runner-up in 2002 and has only missed two cuts.  You can't ignore Perez's current trend, earning top fifteens in four of his last five starts.  Last week at the Waste Management Open, Perez narrowly missed a top ten finishing in solo 11th.
Will MacKenzie - Will MacKenzie is two for two at this event, earning a T35 in 2010 and a T27 in 2006.  MacKenzie has started off the 2013-2014 PGA Tour season in fine form.  He already has five top fifteen finishes, including two top tens.  MacKenzie currently sits in 30th on the FedEx standings, ranks 10th in scoring average, 10th in birdie average, and 2nd in eagles.  If he makes the cut this week, his trend indicates a high finish.

Cathy's Picks:
Dustin Johnson - call this a heart pick, or maybe just a gut feeling that after posting 2 top 10's in his only other 2 events so far in this wrap around season, I have a feeling that DJ will be able to contend on the weekend.  He also has a win here in 2010, and a T5 in 2012.

Hunter Mahan - He flew under the radar for most of the week at the WMO but was in the hunt on Sunday.  Ball striking is great, and from what I read, his putts just weren't dropping.  He's got a couple Top 20's at this event along with a solo 2nd place in 2011.

Jimmy Walker - I'm blaming his missed cut at the Farmers on the "Tiger Effect" (being paired with him for 2 days) and with 3 top 10's at the AT&T over the past 3 years, he's proven he can play this course.  This is also my way of forgiving him for making me get knocked out of the Make the Cut Challenge!!

Dark Horses:

Freddie Jacobson - The Junk Man (as Drew calls him) may be my new de Jonge!  For some reason I just feel like he's going to break through in '14 - and there's a lot of trouble at Pebble, so he can put his Junk Skills to work!  He did WD from the Farmer's a few weeks ago with an undisclosed injury but is still listed in the field this week. 

Jerry Kelly - He's only play the AT&T 1 time in recent years, and that was a CUT, but he's been playing pretty good this year so far and I think he might like the Pro-Am atmosphere of it all.  We might just want to call this a Heart Pick!

Greg Chalmers - the last time he played this even was 2010 (T-35), but the guy has been putting great this year and with 2 top 15's already in the 13-14 season, I think he's a solid Top 25 finisher this week.

Chuck's Picks:
Jimmy Walker – Definitely a horse for this course with three straight top tens at this venue. Also comes in with a hot hand having already won this year.

Jason Day – The clean cut hair is having a positive influence. 2nd at Torrey Pines this year and 6th at Pebble last year. I like his chances.

Hunter Mahan – Mahan finished 4th last week at Scottsdale and has a great track record at Pebble. Most definitely the cream of the yahoo B list this week.
 
Dark Horses:
Matt Jones – Hasn’t missed a cut yet this year and his ball striking is superb. Loves this venue and should be in contention


Bryce Molder – Maybe a bit of a stretch but does have two top tens at Pebble in the last four years and no missed cuts. Call it a hunch.


Spencer Levin – Another longshot here but should have some fans in his home state. Finished 9th here in 2012 and should have a chance as long as they don’t ban smoking on the course.

Drew's Picks:
Jason Day:   Jason Day has two sixth place finishes in his 4 appearances at the ATT, and a T2 at Torrey Pines recently.  His last 4 tournaments have yielded finishes of 1st, 2nd, sixth and 9th.  Course form and current form point to a win this week for Jason.

Graeme McDowell: Graeme McDowell hasn't played a tournament since Tiger's Sherwood event in early December, but is returning to where he won the US Open in 1010=good vibes.  He's shooting for a spot on Europe's Ryder Cup Team, so he needs some great golf this season.  A lack of wind should help his great iron play this week.

Dustin Johnson: Dustin Johnson has won this tournament twice.  His MC last year doesn't worry me, he's a streaky player.  He's paired in the ProAm with father-in-law to be Wayne Gretzky, should be fun to watch.  Dustin popped up at #1 on my predictor model, better than a Majic 8-ball!

Dark Horses:
Patrick Reed:  Patrick Reed had a T7 here last year, and he's a better player now.  His recent win at the Humana was also a Pro-Am event, so he must be comfortable with the format.  A momentum pick for me this week.

Kevin Stadler:  I've been watching "Mini-Walrus" Kevin Stadler steadily improving for the past few years.  I hang out a bit with his mom at the 3M Championship every year when Craig is up here playing, and I'm sure Kevin's win last week did a lot to offset Denver's SB loss Sunday--the Stadlers live right outside of Denver. His win gets him into the Masters, wouldn't it be cool if they paired father/son the first two rounds?  Kevin leads the tour in Total Driving, which should keep his ball on the fairways, near the greens.  And he finished 3rd here last year, which is nice.

Kevin Na:  Kevin Na is just a hunch this week, no dartboard involved.  Kevin has played well enough this year to get off his Major Medical Extension.  He had a T5 here in  2012.  I think he's back to being a fantasy golf asset.  Plus, I had two "Ryans" picked last week, now I have two "Kevins."  Hopefully one of them pans out!