Each week in the PGA Tour season, our panel of experts will share their insight into which players fit the criteria for our four categories below: Birdie Buster, Horse for the Course, Super Sleeper and Winner.
This week's tournament: The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
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ESPN.com golf writer Bob Harig
Horse for the Course: Dustin Johnson
Although the tournament is played over three courses, Johnson obviously likes Pebble Beach and Spyglass -- and fared nicely last year at new addition Monterrey Peninsula. The two-time defending champion also fared well at the U.S. Open, played last year at Pebble Beach, where he led through three rounds before a poor final round. He also tied for seventh at Pebble in 2008.
Birdie Buster: Mark Wilson
The guy is clearly on a roll, a surprise two-time winner this year coming off a victory Monday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open where he had to go low in order to get into a playoff that he won over Jason Dufner.
Super Sleeper: Padraig Harrington
After another offseason swing change, the Irishman makes his PGA Tour debut at a place where he's competed the past four years, with no finish better than a tie for 14th.
Winner: Nick Watney
It seems just a matter of time before Watney breaks through for his third PGA Tour victory. His eight-birdie 28 on the back nine at Torrey Pines two weeks ago is a sign that he's ready to win again.
ESPN.com senior golf editor Kevin Maguire
Horse For The Course: D.J. Trahan
Other than back-to-back Pebble Beach winner Dustin Johnson, Trahan is the only player to record two straight top-10s in this event. He hasn't shown much this year, but that can change quickly, just like the weather on the Monterrey Peninsula.
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Birdie Buster: Dustin Johnson
In three PGA Tour starts at Pebble Beach, Johnson's back-to-back wins and a T-7 in 2008 prove his love of this event. Skip over the fact that not every round is played at the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links, as DJ can bomb it around any track these days.
Super Sleeper: Charlie Wi
Conventional wisdom is bombers win at Pebble Beach. But since 2003, at least one short hitter (defined as 140th or lower in that year's final driving distance stat) finished in the top five, including Paul Goydos (T-5) in 2010. Charlie Wi fits that formula.
Winner: Phil Mickelson
Lefty has played the Pebble Beach Pro-Am every year since 1997 and claimed three victories during that stretch of 14 appearances. Add in three other top-10s plus some impressive recent play in 2011, and that will lead to his first victory of the year.
ESPN.com golf writer and blogger Jason Sobel
Horse For The Course: Dustin Johnson
There won't be many easier "Horse for the Course" selections this season. Johnson won a rain-shortened version of this event in 2009 and then held on to successfully defend last year, despite a final-round 74. And he led through 54 holes of the U.S. Open, which was also at Pebble Beach.
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Birdie Buster: Nick Watney
No one makes birdies in bunches like Watney. In Round 3 of last year's Tour Championship, he birdied nine of his final 11 holes; in Round 4 at Torrey Pines this year, he birdied eight of nine; and last week in Phoenix, he ranked fourth in total birdies. Also doesn't hurt that the NorCal native loves these courses.
Super Sleeper: Mike Weir
Once upon a time, Weirsy was a perennial favorite at Pebble, finishing T-7 in 2000, T-8 in '01, T-3 in '03, T-4 in '04, solo second in '05, T-3 in '06 and solo second in '09. His game has fallen on hard times as of late, but if there's one place where he can turn it all around, it's this one.
Winner: J.B. Holmes
If I told you there's a player who hits the ball an average of nearly 310 yards off the tee, already owns two wins, has played on a winning Ryder Cup team and is just 28 years old, you'd probably think he was superstar material. Well, Holmes might be a bit underrated, but a win this week would dispel that notion.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Michael Collins has been writing for ESPN.com since yesterday. He started out as a stand up comedian and fell into PGA Tour golf and caddying completely by accident in 1998.
He started looping for fun in 1999 but by 2003 had decided to make it a full time gig. He won the Nationwide Tour Championship with Chris Couch in 2003 and was on the bag for Kevin Streelman when they captured the inaugural Kodak Challenge in 2009.
Michael has never won an award for his writing, probably because he failed high school English and still types with his index fingers. But he's smart, funny, and most importantly knows the game/players/caddies and what they go through on a week-to-week basis and brings a caddie perspective that's different than anything you've ever seen when it comes to golf coverage.
Farrell Evans grew up in Forsyth, Ga., 60 miles south of Atlanta, where he learned the game at the Forsyth Golf Club, an 18-hole public course. After high school, he played on the golf team at Florida A&M University and interned with the PGA Tour at the TPC at Sawgrass.
Before joining ESPN.com in August 2011, he was a golf writer for nine years at Sports Illustrated. He currently lives in Harlem and can be contacted at evans.espn@gmail.com.
Bob Harig is a golf writer for ESPN.com and has been covering the game for more than 20 years, first at the St. Petersburg Times and for the last four years at ESPN.com. He began contributing to ESPN.com in 1997.
Harig is a native of Barrington, Ill., where he got his first exposure to golf as a caddie at Inverness Golf Club, where he earned an Evans Scholarship to attend Indiana University. He graduated with degrees in journalism and history.
Harig lives in Florida and can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com
Kevin Maguire is the senior golf editor for ESPN.com and covered his first PGA Tour event in 1994 while at American University in Washington, D.C. He played collegiately for the Eagles and graduated with a degree in print journalism.
Maguire grew up in the Philadelphia, Pa. area and now resides outside of Hartford, Conn. He has been with ESPN since February, 2007 and can be reached at Kevin.Maguire@espn.com.
Justin Ray is a senior researcher with ESPN Stats and Information. He has contributed to ESPN's golf coverage since joining the network out of college in 2008. He is based in Austin, Texas with the new Longhorn Network.
He can be contacted at Justin.Ray@espn.com.
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