Eurosport - Thu, 12 Feb 07:36:00 2009
Jim Furyk will make his 2009 bow alongside celebrities Justin Timberlake and Bill Murray at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-am.
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THIS WEEK (February 12-15)
Tournament: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-am, California
Courses: Pebble Beach Links, Poppy Hills, Spyglass Hill, Pebble Beach
Purse: $6 million
Defending champion: Steve Lowery
A Group
Jim Furyk makes his 2009 debut in California and his record at Pebble Beach suggests a decent finish is on the cards. Furyk finished fifth in the 2008 FedExCup and ended the year with four straight top-10s and a fine showing at the Ryder Cup. Yet again there is a convincing argument for picking Phil Mickelson as your fancy-pants A-lister. The world number four has won three times at Pebble Beach (1998, 2005 and 2007) and has built a career on winning US Tour tournaments on the west coast. That said Lefty has been a touch 'loosey' in his first two starts this season - missing the cut at the FBR Open and finishing tied second at his home track Torrey Pines in the Buick Invitational. Kenny Perry looks like the standout form pick this week, having bagged two top-10s in three starts, including a win on his last outing at the FBR Open.
B Group
Pat Perez could be a decent bet, especially when you consider he won the Bob Hope three weeks ago - another confusing event played across different courses. Moreover, Perez has made the cut on his past three appearances at Pebble Beach and finished second back in 2002. Defending champion Steve Lowery looks a risk when you consider he has got gradually worse in his four events this season and missed the cut last time out at the FBR Open. Two form players to consider are David Toms - who averages 10th from three starts in 2009 - and Nick Watney, who claimed a stunning victory at Torrey Pines in the Buick and should be brimming with confidence.
C Group
Matt Kuchar missed the cut on his 2009 debut at the Sony Open, but finishes of tied 25th and tied sixth in his next two tournaments would suggest he has hit some form. In the absence of everyone's favourite C-Lister Luke Donald, your sensible pick has to be Webb Simpson, however. Simpson has made four cuts from four and bagged two top-10s this season, and came in tied fifth at the Bob Hope. Another to consider might be double-Major winner Retief Goosen (pictured), who looked in good nick at Torrey Pines and came in tied 26th.
Out of Bounds
Tom Lehman turns 50 in March and as such becomes eligible for the highly-lucrative Champions Tour. The 1996 Open champion might be well advised to take up his card, having missed two cuts in two starts this season - at the FBR Open and Buick. He also missed the cut last time out at Pebble Beach.
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