With the claustrophobic confines of the Coliseum disassembled and packed away for another year following Chris Gotterup’s win at the Waste Management, the PGA Tour, for the second time in four weeks, swaps the heat of the desert for California’s windswept Pacific coast. And whilst this trip back to the Golden State will see the Tour, yet again, testing their skills on a US Open site, as opposed to the relative novelty of Torrey Pines as a host for golf’s toughest test, this week’s visit to the Monterey Peninsula will see the current crop of players add yet another chapter to the storied and heritage-rich history of Pebble Beach.

With origins dating as far back as the 30s, the Pro-Am is, without question, one of the PGA Tour’s most enduring traditions. Operating under a similar format to that of the Farmers Insurance Open, the first two days of the Pro-Am are split between Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. And whilst it’s Pebble that has always been the headline attraction on the Monterey Peninsula, the scenic holes and breathtaking views demanding nothing less than top billing, it’s Spyglass Hill that has consistently shown itself to be the sterner test of the two tracks.

Whilst sitting only slightly longer than Pebble’s 6,989 yards at a hair over 7,000, the difficulty at Spyglass comes from the fact that, whilst on the coast, the majority of the course plays more like an inland parkland track than it does a links because of its routing through the Del Monte forest. As a result, this leads to narrow, tree-lined fairways, dramatic elevation changes, and devilishly difficult bunker complexes – meaning, all told, accuracy is a must if one is to navigate their way around this ‘Treasure Island’-inspired course with anything in the way of success.

Of course, this isn’t to say that Pebble Beach is a pushover by any means. As we can see through its pillar-like history as a long-standing host of Major championships, Pebble can be an absolute monster when it wants to be, one that doesn’t take kindly to having too many people under par. But that tends to be during the summer, when the course can dry out, and the small greens become lightning quick, as a result.

At this time of the year, though? It’s a different story. The course is a little softer, nor is it set up to be as penal as it can be when a Major’s in town. But if the elements get involved? As they’re supposed to come the weekend, with wind and rain forecast for Sunday? Then, despite the summer still lurking agonisingly on the other side of the horizon, we might just see the real Pebble Beach bare its teeth before the week is out.

And if that happens? It won’t just be about what they can do with their clubs that’ll see the winner eventually prevail, but rather who’ll be best prepared to ride out the carnage that will ensue should Neptune decide to get involved.

Because at that point, it won’t just be a golf tournament.

It’ll be a fight.

THE ORACLES’ FOURBALL

SHANE LOWRY

After starting off his season with back-to-back events in Dubai, this week’s AT&T Pro-Am marks Shane Lowry’s first appearance on the PGA Tour in 2026. And whilst his second-placed finish here last year bodes well for his overall feel for the tournament – especially so, considering how well he scored over the weekend – it’s his performances from that aforementioned stint in the desert that make me think Shane could be one to watch this week.

Because it’s always difficult to predict how the bigger, more established stars on the Tour will emerge from the off-season. If there’s a little bit of rust? It’s almost taken as a given, something to be expected. After all, it takes time to get back to peak sharpness. Old swing feels have to be dusted off, tempos dialled back in. Back in January, however, we didn’t see that with Shane.

Now, you wouldn’t say that he was playing at his absolute best, no. I mean, for example, you put a tournament-sharp Lowry in the position that he was in going down the last at the Dubai Invitational, one who’d had more rounds under his belt, and I think we see that hole play out very differently.

Either way, though, regardless of the outcome on that particular Sunday, there’s no denying that Shane Lowry was looking good during that fortnight in Dubai. The driver was working decently. His approach game was incredibly impressive. Even the temperature on his putter was looking encouragingly warm. And all of that, bear in mind, whilst dealing with difficult conditions. Because these weren’t early-season shootouts like the American Express, something casual to help blow away the cobwebs. These were tough, desert courses with firm greens and windy conditions, the perfect test to expose any weaknesses in your game. And whilst he might not have gotten an ‘A’, Lowry most certainly didn’t fail either.

Therefore, whilst there’s always the concern that he might be coming in a little undercooked, if Shane can bring a similar level of golf to the Monterey Peninsula this week, then with his ball-striking, his ability to flight the ball, his short-game, and his ability to get hot on the greens, he can absolutely be a threat come Sunday. Because if the weather turns and things devolve into a street fight? After his heroics in Bethpage last September, I can’t think of anyone better suited for a scrap than the man from Offaly. Because even if, by his own admission, he doesn’t think he’s a great wind player, the 2009 Irish Open and 2019 Open Championship say otherwise.

MATT FITZPATRICK

As far as European players go, Matt Fitzpatrick has surely got to be one of the most unassuming stars that we have. Yet, when you stop to think about what he’s actually achieved in the game, the young Englishman has put together an incredible résumé for someone who’s only 31. First and foremost, he’s a Major-winner, capturing the U.S. Open back in 2022. Box ticked. He’s represented Europe four times in the Ryder Cup, winning twice. And he’s won eleven professional titles – including, let’s not forget, a hat-trick of wins at the DP World Tour championship. I mean, to put that number of wins into some context, on that most recent winning Ryder Cup team, Matt is tied in 5th-place with Viktor Hovland for the most amount of wins – behind, in order, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, and Tommy Fleetwood.

But when you look at Matt’s game and see where his strengths are, it quickly becomes apparent why he’s amassed the number of titles that he has. It’s because he’s your ultimate steady hand. He’s sneakily long off the tee, yet accurate. He finds greens. And he makes putts. It’s a simple game, really, when you think about it. But that’s what makes Matt so special. He goes about his business and makes cuts. And if you make enough cuts and keep finding greens, you’ll give yourself chances to win or, at the very least, nice cheques to cash come the end of the week.

Therefore, to see him coming off a 9th-place finish in Phoenix last week, whilst his record at the Pro-Am might not be the most impressive (a 6th-place finish being the best of an otherwise underwhelming list), with his game already looking incredibly healthy tee-to-green, if Matt can bring with him that same accuracy and consistency that he’s been showing thus far, and make it count around Spyglass Hill (where he’ll be playing on Thursday), then, he certainly possesses the ability and the grit to add a second PGA Tour title to that already impressive résumé.

VIKTOR HOVLAND

Back when I was doing Cheeky Nine, one of my favourite articles that I ever wrote was a ‘Scout Report’ on Viktor Hovland. It was September 2019, he had just turned professional after the U.S. Open a few months previously, and was fresh off the back of a tremendous run of form that had highlighted exactly why he had ascended to the very peak of amateur golf back in 2018. And what I was doing in that article was making the argument that Viktor was the next “stalwart in waiting” for the European Ryder Cup team.

Now, as time has shown, Viktor would, indeed, go on to make the very next Ryder Cup team in 2021, and every other Ryder Cup team since then – accumulating 6 points in total and two wins overall. So, I think we can all agree that he’s done pretty well for himself in the blue and yellow.

But why I bring that article up – apart from spying an opportunity to pat myself on the back, of course – is that in the course of researching that article, I watched Viktor’s performance in the final of the 2018 U.S Amateur at Pebble Beach. And after seeing how he played that day, managing both the course and the moment, you could see that, even then, he was ready for that jump up to the professional ranks. His length off the tee. His work with the irons. His putting. It was all there. Not the finished article by any means, but the raw talent was undeniable. Seven years and eleven wins later, and that same ‘talent’ has proven to be incredibly profitable for the young Norwegian.

At 28 years of age, however, and with making the jump over to regular Major contention, surely, high on his list of priorities, this season feels like it’s a big one for Viktor. And whilst admitting at the Dubai Desert Classic that he wasn’t swinging as freely as he would like to be, he still managed to post an impressive T-14 for his week’s work. And after backing that up with a T-10 in Phoenix last week, one that he credits in some part to finding a breakthrough with the composition of his driver, it seems to be building a promising pattern. Because competing at the highest level isn’t just about shooting the lights out whenever you step on the course. It can’t be. Instead, it’s about getting the job done even when your game is slightly under construction. 

Therefore, to see Viktor heading back to California this week and feeling somewhat confident with the driver in hand? If that starts finding fairways, with his ball-striking and putting, he could well find himself hoisting yet another piece of silverware on Pebble’s famous 18th green come Sunday.

PIERCESON COODY

This was a close one. Because, whilst Pierceson Coody has, indeed, been one of the most in-form players on the PGA Tour this season, the exact same could be said for Si Woo Kim and Jake Knapp.

In the four events that 2026 has presented us with thus far, though, Pierceson has finished T-13 at the Sony Open, T-18 at the American Express, T-2 at the Farmers, and T-10 at the Phoenix Open. That’s four straight weeks on the road. Never finishing outside the top-20. And finding yourself $1.2million richer come the end of it. In other words, it’s been a phenomenal start for the 26-year-old.

How’s he done it? Well, like Matt Fitzpatrick, Pierceson has just been the model of consistency. When you look at all the key stat categories that tend to betray who’s playing quite well, Pierceson’s name is high up the list in most of them. SG: Tee-to-Green? He’s 10th. SG: Off-the-Tee? 12th. GIR %? 6th. Ball striking? 10th. SG: Total? 11th. Basically, Pierceson’s probably feeling pretty confident whenever he stands over the ball right now. And when you factor in that he’s achieving such high rankings as one of the players who has played the most amount of golf this season, AND whilst not driving the ball particularly accurately or putting the lights out, it’s even more mind-bogglingly impressive.

However, whilst I fully believe that Pierceson’s ball-striking can see him thrive in his first showing at the Pro-Am, what with the narrow confines of Spyglass Hill and the small greens at Pebble putting a premium on accuracy with your second shots, the fact that he has played so much golf in the last few weeks, going deep into every tournament, makes the possibility of burning out a very real proposition, especially if the weather turns less than favourable.

But given that he’s amongst the early starters on Thursday, taking to the links at Pebble for his first round, if Pierceson can make the most of the, what you’d expect to be, more benign conditions that a morning tee-time should afford him, he could well rack up a healthy opening score that gives him a little breathing room before heading to Spyglass Hill on Friday.

Because fatigue catches up to every golfer.

It just becomes a whole lot more palatable if you’re up near the top of the leaderboard.