Bhatia and Theegala all set for Pebble Beach, Rory and Scottie are favourites

Bhatia arrives for the ATT Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a strong showing of a personal best tied third at the WM Phoenix Open last week. The 2026 ATT Pebble Beach Pro-Am officially is the first Signature Event of the PGA Tour season with an elite 80-player field battling for a USD 20 million purse and 700 FedEx Cup points and no cut.

Indian-American golfers Akshay Bhatia and Sahith Theegala have a lot to prove and gain from this week as they get ready for the first USD 20m Signature event of 2026 at AT&T Pebble Beach here. Bhatia arrives for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a strong showing of a personal best tied third at the WM Phoenix Open last week. He could well be a dark horse in coastal windy conditions, which suit his shot shaping and creativity, especially if the weather becomes tough over the weekend. There is no cut this week, so that also allows players to feature in all four days and it could also bring in some exciting play. Bhatia had a very good four round performance at Phoenix Open and even though his record at Pebble Beach is modest with T-22 in 2025 as his best, he could make amends. Theegala experienced huge disappointment while finishing sixth, just outside the Aon Swing 5 rankings, which would have assured him starts at Pebble Beach and Genesis. Yet, the same day he received a sponsor's exemption for Pebble. A good finish for Theegala, whose best here is T-20 in 2024, will go a long way for this season, where he has had two Top-10s and two other Top-20s in the last four events. He was T-53 last year at Pebble Beach. Aaron Rai, too, returns after a T-40 in 2025 with aspirations to climb higher on the leader board. His only PGA Tour start in 2026 was the Sony Open, where he was T-50. The 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am officially is the first Signature Event of the PGA Tour season with an elite 80-player field battling for a USD 20 million purse and 700 FedEx Cup points and no cut. Defending champion Rory McIlroy and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler are the top stars at one of golf's most beautiful backdrops. McIlroy fired a stunning 21-under to win last year and this is his 2026 PGA Tour season debut. Scheffler arrives fresh off a victory at The American Express and a near-miss in Phoenix. His ball-striking and consistency have made him a leading contender, even though Pebble Beach has eluded him in past starts. Other top stars could be Si Woo Kim, veterans like Justin Rose and Jason Day and the rising star Chris Gotterup, who won the Sony Open and WM Phoenix Open early this season. The young American sits inside the top five of the Official World Golf Ranking.

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