Golf best bets: Longshots to target at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Longshots have been crashing the party to start the new PGA Tour season. All four winners in 2024 could be found at 150/1 odds or higher before the tournament, so we would be remiss not to target some bombs for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Here are the two longshots we're targeting this week with outright and finishing position bets. 

Taylor Montgomery (+12000 FanDuel)

Pebble Beach is notoriously one of the toughest putting tests on the PGA Tour schedule because of its bumpy poa annua greens. You can't compete at this tournament unless you putt well, so we might as well take arguably the best putter in the field.

Taylor Montgomery finished second on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: putting in his rookie season. He ranked 10th in the field in SG: putting at last week's Farmers Insurance Open, which also features coastal California poa greens. Along with his stellar putting, Montgomery has gained strokes on approach in three of his last four starts. He finished T13 or better three times in that span. 

If Pebble turns into a putting contest this week, that fits right in Montgomery's wheelhouse. 

Top-20 finish: +300

Mackenzie Hughes (+22000 FD)

Speaking of great putters, let's mosey on down to Mackenzie Hughes at 220/1. The Canadian has gained more than 15 true strokes putting over his last three starts. He averaged a ridiculous 3.24 true strokes gained putting per round in his last start at Pebble Beach in 2022, which is by far the best mark of his career for any tournament. 

Putting on poa annua can be a game of luck, but Hughes clearly knows how to get the ball in the hole on these difficult greens. He also has a great short game around the greens, which will be paramount this week considering the small greens at Pebble Beach and the possibility of high winds affecting iron shots. 

Top-20 finish: +400
Top-40 finish: +100