And just like that, the PGA TOUR has arrived at the midpoint of the West Coast Swing.

This week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is the third in the series of five. It’s the only one among them without a cut, and it returns the circuit to the familiar Thursday-to-Sunday cadence of competition.

Even though the field goes only 80 deep for the second Signature Event of the season, this is the last of three straight tournaments contested on multiple courses. The explanation of the format, what everyone can expect and more details are below.

While it’s not unprecedented that Torrey Pines Golf Courses, both the North and the South, deal with the kind of wind that disrupted the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open, typically but only periodically, those kinds of conditions are reserved for the Monterey Peninsula when Pebble Beach toes the slab. They very much did last year, but naturally, figuratively and literally, Mother Nature is taking it easy this week.

After a pleasant opening round, clouds will pass overhead throughout the remainder of the tournament. The threat of rain will increase gradually into the weekend and the daytime highs will be lunging for 60 degrees. The good news is that wind isn’t an early headliner. Of course, that was the case hundreds of miles down the California coastline a week ago, but the touring professionals always keep their heads on swivels.

They had a year ago here when the tournament was shortened to 54 holes due to encroaching severe weather. Still, that allowed the entire field to cycle through Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course for the first two rounds. That tournament within the tournament represents the entirety of the pro-am portion of the competition. Then, only Pebble Beach Golf Links hosts however much more golf can be played to arrive at a champion, hopefully at the conclusion of four rounds. There shouldn’t be any worries about that this week.

Both tracks are stock par 72s and stretch to the same tips that they have for a few years now. Pebble Beach Golf Links maxes at just 6,972 yards but its greens are the smallest on the PGA TOUR, while Spyglass Hill is only 7,041 yards with larger greens that still are below average among all courses on the docket. All putting surfaces consist of Poa annua and could measure the prepared 12 feet on the Stimpmeter with calm breezes. The worst of the rough is trimmed to three inches for the second consecutive year, a reflection of an increase of an inch from previous editions.

Both courses have undergone a few modifications and upgrades in the last 12 months, but none should have a measurable impact on scoring. Pound for pound and despite averaging less than one-half stroke harder than the host course last year, Spyglass Hill is the tougher test. However, when the wind blows that’s the place to be, as scores on Pebble Beach Golf Links can soar. The moral of that matter is to capitalize on Pebble Beach Golf Links when conditions are ideal.

With small targets, even with short irons in hands, ball-strikers get the edge. Average and worse putters will lean more on greenside touch than needing to hang with the guys who can win putting contests.

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton previews and recaps every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled.

MONDAY: Power Rankings

TUESDAY*: Fantasy Insider

SUNDAY: Payouts and Points, Qualifiers

* - Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by PGA TOUR Superstore, which also publishes on Tuesday.