PGA Tour Stats Review: Entering Pebble Beach

PGA TOUR STATS: Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Each week we'll list the statistical breakdown of the upcoming PGA Tour event. Below are the results of last week's Phoenix Open and the top finishers from last year's Pebble Beach Pro-Am. For last year's full-season results, go here.

2012 PGA Tour Events

EVENT	WINNER	DRIVE	DRIVE	DRIVE	DRIVE	GIR	GIR	STK GN	PUTTS	EAGLES	BIRDIE	BOGEY	DBL BOG
		%of56	RNK	DIS	DIS RNK	%of72	RNK	/PUTT	RNK
TOC	Stricker -23	66.7	11	268.3	15	81.9	13	1.25	3	1	26	3	1
Sony	Wagner -13	41.1	56	276.4	68	70.8	10	1.58	3	2	17	8	0
Humana	M. Wilson -24	74.1	18	279.3	69	80.6	73	1.04	4	2	24	4	0
Farmers	Snedeker -16 P1	58.9	13	284.8	47	70.8	33	1.03	12	0	24	8	0
Phoenix	K. Stanley -15	60.7	24	287.5	70	79.2	3	1.14	11	2	18	7	0
AVERAGE		60.3	24.4	279.2	53.8	76.6	26.4	1.21	6.6	1.4	21.8	6	.2
Farmers	K. Stanley -16 P2	51.8	39	314.4	2	79.2	3	0.43	32	1	25	6	1

Last Week's Phoenix Open

Stanley's stats at the Torrey Pines, where he lost in a playoff, can be compared with his stats at last week's comeback victory at the Phoenix Open. Stanley got back on the horse with improved putting and a bogey-free closing round.

Spencer Levin was saving par with 12-15-foot putts as he neared the turn. Then he made two bogeys, birdie and double bogey that backed him down to 13-under.

Stanley out-scored Levin in the closing round by 10 shots.

Levin missed the cut at the Phoenix Open last year but went on to Pebble beach where he tied for fourth, at 10-under.

This Week's Pebble Beach Pro-Am

EVENT	WINNER	DRIVE	DRIVE	DRIVE	DRIVE	GIR	GIR		PUTTS	PUTTS		EAGLE/	BOGEY/
		%of56	RNK	DIS	DIS RNK	%of72	RNK	Per GIR	RNK	RND	RNK	BIRDIE	DBL
2011 Pebble	Points -18	80.0	7	285.6	40	69.4	17	1.6	1	27	2	2/23	10/1
	Mahan -13	72.7	26	283.3	46	73.6	4	1.6	3	29	32	1/21	8/1
	Gillis -11	81.8	2	284.6	41	77.8	1	1.7	11	29	35	0/20	7/1
	Levin -10	69.1	37	293.5	22	73.6	4	1.6	2	29	35	0/23	11/1
	Marino -10	81.8	2	296.4	15	75.0	3	1.7	13	29	27	1/19	8/1
AVERAGE		77.1	14.8	288.7	32.8	73.9	5.8	1.6	6	28.5	26.2

At last year's Pebble Beach, Steve Marino tied or led the first three rounds. His closing 74, with a triple bogey at the 18th, pushed him to a tie for fifth. He didn't have problems getting to the greens, but once there he struggled as can be seen in putts-per-GIR and low birdie count.

D.A. Points won this one with his putter. Both putting stats jump out as compared with the other top finishers. Of note is the quantity of bogeys all around. The next seven finishers averaged 8.7 bogeys, which is very close to the top fives' 8.8.

This year, the event will use three courses: Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and the Monterey Peninsula Shore Course. The 2011 score averages again confirmed that the Monterey course is the easiest. Check out the stats and plan your strategy:

Monterey Shore Course - 68.98 (three rounds) Spyglass Hill - 71.603 (three rounds) Pebble Beach - 71.504 (four rounds)

Players rotate three rounds using the three courses and Pebble Beach is used for the closing round. Pebble's closing-round average score in 2011 was 73.217.

The cut is exercised after the third round. Last year, the three-round cut was at 212 and took out some notables: Johnson Wagner and Gary Woodland (213), Brandt Snedeker (215), Mark Wilson and Brenden DeJonge (216), John Rollins (217), Justin Leonard, David Toms, Jim Furyk (218) and Jason Dufner (219).

Veteran players with good track records usually do better than rookies here. Last year, Spencer Levin, hardly a veteran, was an exception. Greens in regulation, scrambling and sharp putting are highly important as is taking advantage of par-5s where birdies (or better) are needed. Wind has caused havoc in the past – look for players who regularly do well in the wind. If you struggle in picking a player look for an Australian or a Texan, they usually play well on windy days.