Who Are The Sponsor's Invites For The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am?

A total of four sponsor's exemptions will tee it up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which is the first Signature Event of the 2026 PGA Tour season

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Tony Finau hits an iron off the tee
(Image credit: Getty Images)

After four tournaments of the 2026 PGA Tour season, the circuit moves to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, its first Signature Event of the year.

Taking place over the iconic courses of Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, a total of 80 players will tee it up on the Monterey Peninsula, with a $20 million tournament purse up for grabs through February 12-15th.

Rory McIlroy holds the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am trophy

Rory McIlroy returns to defend his AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am title

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Among the four sponsor exemptions this week are Tony Finau, Billy Horschel, Keith Mitchell and Sahith Theegala, as all four men return to the venue having played here previously.

For Finau, it'll be his third straight appearance at the Signature Event, having finished T13th in 2025. Horschel, meanwhile, finished T9th last year, thanks to rounds of 72, 65, 70 and 66.

The multiple-time PGA Tour winners will be joined by Mitchell and Theegala, with the former making his tournament debut back in 2018 and the latter in 2022.

Both possess decent records in the event, with Mitchell finishing T4th in 2023 and Theegala T20th in 2024.

Billy Horschel hits an iron off the tee

Horschel registered a top 10 in his last start at Pebble Beach

(Image credit: Getty Images)

You may wonder, how do sponsor invites work? Well, speaking to Golf Monthly in October 2025, Tracy West, the tournament director of both the Valspar Championship and the 3M Open, explained that each tournament is allowed to pick whoever they want.

"It totally differs by the tournament. Some tournaments, the title sponsor gets super involved, you know, and says, "Yep, we want to sit down and talk about it together and you know, let's look at lists and guys and who should we pick?" stated West.

"Some titles don't care. They're like, 'Hey, you guys are the experts, you guys make the decisions.' Some have their host or like their 501c3 board gets very involved. Some don't. Some it's just the tournament director picking, right? I mean, so it varies across every tournament."

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland laugh together while walking off the 11th tee box during the first round of The Genesis Invitational

The caliber of player will make a big difference in terms of viewership at tournament

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The topic of sponsor exemptions has caused controversy previously, as certain players appear to receive more invites than others due to either their marketability or career CV.

In 2025, Rickie Fowler drew scrutiny after he made it into the FedEx Cup Playoffs despite the majority of his points coming from Signature Events that he received sponsor's invitations into.

A year earlier, Dylan Wu called out the amount of invites that PGA Tour Policy Board Player Director's Adam Scott and Webb Simpson received into Signature Events, with the American tweeting: "Seems like if you’re a player director, you’ll get an invite into an elevated event.

"Seems suspect….. And trust me, they’re both great players that probably deserve it but this new model is all about meritocracy,"

Simpson, who through 2024 had received four sponsor's exemptions into Signature Events, responded to the claims, stating: "I know that I’ve gotten, this is my fourth sponsor exemption, and Adam Scott’s received his fair share.

Rickie Fowler wearing an orange polo and cap with green sunglasses

A T7th finish at The Memorial Tournament was the difference in Fowler making it through to the FedEx Cup Playoffs

(Image credit: Getty Images)

"There was controversy and guys were trying to link us being on the board, but it has nothing to do with me being on the board.

"I’ve known these tournament directors, and they’ll tell you themselves, since my rookie year in 2009. I have great affection for those tournaments and those sponsors and I think it’s way more than just currently who’s getting in."

Matt Cradock
Matt Cradock
Staff Writer

Matt joined Golf Monthly in February 2021 covering weekend news, before also transitioning to equipment and testing. After freelancing for Golf Monthly and The PGA for 18 months, he was offered a full-time position at the company in October 2022 and continues to cover news and social media.

Taking up the game when he was just seven years of age, Matt made it into his county squad just a year later and continues to play the game at a high standard, with a handicap of around 2-4. To date, his best round is a six-under-par 66 having been seven-under through nine.

Matt’s current What’s In The Bag?

Driver: Honma TW747, 8.75°

Fairway Wood: Ping G430 LST 15°, 19°

Irons: TaylorMade P7CB

Wedges: Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0 Tour Satin, 50°, 56°, 60°

Putter: Cleveland TFI 2135 Satin Cero

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

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