Pebble Beach begins PGA Tour’s Signature events
Defending champion – Rory McIlroy – image Golf Australia
The PGA Tour’s first of eight Signature Events is played this week at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course, with the select 80-man field taking on two of the most iconic layouts in the US in an event worth US$3.6 million to the winner, and even a top-20 finish will earn US$252,000.
Introduced as an attempt to counter the huge purses of LIV Golf, the events have now become a focus of attention outside the majors and the Players Championship for PGA Tour players.
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am promises a battle between the world’s number one, two and three golfers, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlory, and Justin Rose, Rose joining calculations given his win here two years ago and a 3rd place finish last year.
Having won so impressively last week at the Farmers Insurance Open, Rose could well upstage the logical favourites.
McIlroy won by two over Shane Lowry 12 months ago, while Scheffler has been 9th and 6th in his two visits to the event.
The event is played over two venues over the opening two days, with Pebble Beach Golf Links the host for the final 36 holes.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox and Australians Min Woo Lee and Jason Day represent the down-under brigade, the pair the only qualifiers from our region in the restricted field.
Jason Day has an exceptional record at the event or its equivalent with nine top tens in 15 outings, including a runner-up finish in 2018. Day began this season with a fine runner-up finish at the American Express, but perhaps disappointed at yet another favourite venue when only midfield at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open. His record here suggests something better this week, however.
Ryan Fox has slipped in the rankings since the end of 2025, but he has made all three cuts in events he has played in the Middle East and Phoenix. He will play this event for the first occasion.
Min Woo Lee missed the cut at his first two appearances at Pebble Beach, but last year finished an encouraging 17th, so he has hopes of improving on the two midfield finishes he has to his name in this event previously.
