Blog: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am  Editor's note: Brett Avery, PGATOUR.com's Fantasy Insider, is going to do a live blog direct from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am this week. Check back frequently throughout the day for his next entry. Have a question or comment for Brett? Send it to him at brettavery@aol.com. All times are pacific.  Bill Murray is one of many celebrities playing in this event. (Cohen/WireImage)
3:16 p.m. Must be the cold temperatures but the battery power is dropping fast. Probably a good time to summarize the day and find a nice, warm seat indoors. First, the field got away with one because the rain for the most part stayed away. The winds were plenty to tangle with -- all those exposed oceanside holes at Pebble Beach must have been a joy. The board here at Spyglass shows John Mallinger at 7 under, an incredible round in these conditions. Not quite the 61 that Brandt Snedeker shot at Torrey Pines two weeks ago, but a round he'll tell stories about for several years. The conditions depressed scoring for the pro-am teams, giving Mallinger and amateur Kerry Gordon, a 9-handicap, a three-shot lead at 12 under. Gordon will have his own stories, adding five shots to the team score. If the weather holds the same tomorrow -- low clouds, steady winds, temperatures just high enough that the hands don't feel frozen -- there could be lots of good scores. At some point you become acclimated to this stuff and start to worry more about how to play well instead of how to stay passably comfortable. See you tomorrow at Poppy Hills. 2:48 p.m. Emmitt Smith hits a high ball, almost scary high. So when he launches his last drive of the day a bit off to the right, it takes a right turn on the wind and sails over the trees and almost across the 10th fairway. In the yardage guides for TOUR stops, certain out-of-the way sprinkler heads are noted to the green and labeled JIC: just in case. But Smith is in an area where only the most desperate measurement will do, the dreaded "just in case you really ... " His second shot is another enormous blow but ticks a high branch and drops to the ground. Nice try, better luck tomorrow. 2:45 p.m. Addendum on the tree: while falling it crashed into another tree, enough contact to hold it up and allow every spectator to scramble away unharmed. Still amazing. 2:35 p.m. Walking up the hill between the 17th and 18th, a woman from a nearby backyard party is holding a tray with candies, hors d'oeuvres and beverages. Andrade politely passes. DiMarco demurs. Brady says no. Smith, dawdling while signing autographs, waits until the others are well up toward the tee. Then he grabs a light beer, thanks the woman and barrels up the hill. At least he knows how to enjoy himself. The wind is picking up a bit more, now giving an eerie sound going through the pines. Nearly 3 p.m. and still the only r-a-i-n was the brief sprinkle at lunch time. Good news. 2:21 p.m. The grounds crew was on the scene within minutes, as were a few dozen marshals and security officers. The crew dragged smashed branches out of a greenside bunker -- the top of the tree had come within about 15 feet of the putting surface -- and marshals dragged limbs into an enormous pile. The lowest branches were about 20 feet below the base of the trunk; that little extra time as they fell downhill allowed everyone to clear out. This could have been incredibly tragic. Thankfully no one was hurt despite its falling around one pf the busiest greens on the course. And before anyone asks: The core of the trunk showed lots of rot and looked fine on the outside. So now eveyone's looking up at the trees and wondering where to stand. 2:14 p.m. It was about 80 or 90 feet tall, one of those towering pines that give the Del Monte Forest its character. The Bill Murray group was on the green when the cracking sounds scattered the gallery. People were running out of the way as it snapped about 12 feet above the ground and came crashing down. Standing beside the 16th green, it sounded like nothing you'd hear on a course, all yells of panic and then a cheer of relief when it was clear no one was beneath the crushed tangle of branches. When I ran up to the 17th green, people who had barely escaped injury were still wandering around in a daze. 2:12 p.m. There's more excitement than anyone needed. A gigantic tree just collapsed behind the 17th green. No injuries. More in a moment. 2:01 p.m. The blimp is hovering over Pebble Beach but the wind direction allows hearing it revving the motor full tilt to stay over the same spot. Can't be easy, bouncing around all day up there. The crew will be happy to land tonight at Monterey airport. 1:47 p.m. And the word is drifting through the gallery, causing quite the commotion: Anna Nicole Smith, dead. Lots of heads shaking over that one. 1:36 p.m Not to wax poetic or anything, but O'Donnell generates an impressive amount of clubhead speed coming through the ball. You expect that from the time his hands go down from his shoulders to the ball they'll move at one speed, only to have them blur through faster. Much faster. At the 13th, one of the two Spyglass holes where the TOUR is measuring driving distance, he's beside the 320-yard mark. Figuring he teed it up about 35 yards in front of the pros, and then blew it 40 yards beyond them, he's got plenty of length. O'Donnell hits 8-iron to the front-right fringe and then flips a little wedge to within a yard. If you drew it up on a hole diagram, it could be mistaken for just another pro's par. Elkington, working hard, helps read the downhill slider, which O'Donnell makes for net 3. Six under and further into contention. 1:08 p.m. Chris O'Donnell (Steve Elkington) and Huey Lewis (Peter Jacobsen) are both four better than their pros through 11 holes, although O'Donnell has the better of it at 5 under. According to the leaderboard beside the 12th tee, that puts him three behind the leaders. O'Donnell has one of the most proficient swings among the celebrities: compact, measured, balanced. Whereas today Brady's 8 seems about 15 strokes too few, O'Donnell's 7 makes you wonder where he loses so many shots. Case in point is the downhill, par-3 12th, where his tee shot is on the stick but drops four feet short of the green. Unfazed, he takes putter and judges the pace ideally, leaving himself a tap-in for par. Once again he improves his pro on the card when Elkington hits into the pond and makes 4. 12:42 p.m. With 120 players on each course the play slows at mid-afternoon with the course chock-full of foursomes. Every fairway has a group standing around talking about sports, politics, the weather -- anything to pass the time. An email signed by Mick Jagger (no, the other one) asks which pro is likely to roll his eyes at the antics of his celeb partner. The answer: none. Most of the celebs are clustered in one-third of the field so they'll appear at the same course each day. That means the tournament officials can dispatch extra marshals and other volunteers to help with the expected larger gallery. But the TOUR and TOUR officials also solicit players who want to be in that third of the field and, specifically, will pair with a celeb. Some pros would rather not deal with the extra distractions -- rookies and other new players, for example, may find themselves elsewhere. But there are pros who relish the limelight or accept a celeb partner year after year because if the friendship they've established. That's the case with understated Scott Simpson, who for years has had Bill Murray as his teammate. Hate to say it, but the first raindrops are falling at Spyglass. Almost time to break the waterproofs out of the backpack. 12:13 p.m. Two young women working the concessions at the clubhouse, trying their best to sell product in the face of rising winds and temps in the 50s. Ice cream is a slow mover. But they're asking everyone who passes by their cart, literally begging people to find it in their hearts to turn over $4 for Carmel High School. In the space of seven minutes they make three sales and give the same effervescent line to each guy: "you're our first customer!" Ah, free market forces at work. 11:29 a.m. Kevin James is an 18 handicap and using every stroke to his advantage. He's four under through eight holes with pro partner Bobby Clampett one under. James clearly relishes giving Ray Romano, the group's other amateur, the sharp end of the stick. But at the ninth he whips his drive miles left into the trees and has to punch out sideways from beside a stately pine. In the last 15 to 20 minutes the blimp has arrived overhead, the Golf Channel crews have arrived and the tempo has picked up. The morning, pre-telecast holes are subdued on the pace picks up when the cameras appear. They are, after all, entertainers. The pros, too. After spending the last few hours roaming the front nine, which is mostly protected from the prevailing wind, it's a surprise to walk up the hill at No. 9 and into the teeth of the increasing wind. James' second finds the fairway and his third checks up 32 feet from the hole. Although he misses the par putt he taps in for net par and turns 4 under. Romano, meanwhile, looks miserable. He's two over and probably already strangling his chances to make the cut. These guys will get tons of air time for these three rounds. Time to duck into the clubhouse, grab a sandwich and get ready for the afternoon. Almost noon and still dry. 11:12 a.m. Tom Brady is not an 8 handicap. Perhaps in a parallel universe, or on a sunny day, or without a crowd. But now he's hit seven completely crummy shots in two holes and hasn't picked up despite lying -- what, 6? 7? Hard to keep track after he went in the pond. Oh, and pro partner Andrade has 21 feet for eagle at the seventh green, which he two-putts to get to minus one. DiMarco, meanwhile, saves par after hitting into the greenside pond with his second, on a shot trajectory quite similar to that first drive on the practice tee. Time to find a few new subjects to scrutinize. Because he may have a Super Bowl ring, but Tom Brady doesn't have any golf ability today. 10:58 a.m. Michael Bolton, in the group behind, is over his ball and ready to hit his approach at the sixth when a deer breaks out of the forest and runs across the fairway. He backs off, composes himself and settles in over the ball again. That's when another deer darts out to join the first. Bolton tries to hit the shot anyway and skulls it. Like they'll believe that story tonight at dinner. 10:42 a.m. Tom Brady hits this ugly squib off the sixth tee and is 50 yards behind the other three. Waiting for the green to clear he's fidgeting, swinging his fairway wood incessantly and checking his alignment time and again. When it's finally his turn he hits another half-wormburner up the fairway. He is not pleased. Certainly doesn't look like a guy who made 2 at the previous hole with such a flourish. Of course, sitting 3 in front of the green is better than Emmitt Smith, whose second winds up between two bunkers in front of the surface. His third? Skulled into the sand. Fourth out to the green and Billy Andrade bets him a case of beer he can't get the 90-footer to the hole. It's wide right but just past hole high. "I'll get you a case," Andrade concedes. That won't draw a fine from the home office, will it? Eventually Andrade barely misses a 11-footer for par, a sour note after Brady picked up. 10:28 a.m. The gallery following Tom Brady of the New England Patriots includes three girls thumbing away on PDAs. They're part of a group of about a dozen kids, communicating via sign language. So much for the blogging exclusive? First, DiMarco runs down a 30-footer for birdie. Then Brady connects from 16 behind the hole for his 2. Emmitt Smith cans his seven-footer for deuce, each cheer from the gallery more animated than the last. Billy Andrade? An effortless two-footer into the heart to complete the birdie sweep. "That's the hardest putt I've had in 10 years," Andrade confides to Brady as they walk off the green. The pros are each one under and DiMarco-Smith are two under. Time to follow them. 10:22 a.m. A comment from a man sitting in a low chair beside the player walkway behind the fifth green. He's bundled up and shielding himself head-to-toe with a wide piece of thick-gauge, clear plastic. "It's going to rain in about 30 minutes," he proclaims. At which point I'll offer him $50 for the sheet of plastic. And dutifully request a receipt for the expense report. 10:05 a.m. Ah, the gallery mutterings about the Bill Murray hat at the fifth green. All he's missing is a small price tag hanging from the left brim to complete the Minnie Pearl look. Johnny Doppelt is lining up a 35-footer for birdie as Murray pulls out a harmonica and starts playing "Red River Valley." He hits a discordant note when Doppelt's putt comes up short. When Jeff Sluman stands over his 30-footer he tries to outlast Murray, holding the last note until he gasps for breath. Sluman cracks up along with the crowd, composes himself and then two-putts for par. Two under and probably among the leaders. 9:57 a.m. For those wondering where the fashion reports are today: Kevin Costner, soft chocolate slacks and sweater,white oxford shirt with the cuffs unbuttoned and pushed up to mid-forearm, brown tie and a newsboy cap. A Bob Jones throwback look played to perfection. 9:44 a.m. First fluke of the day, seeing Rocco Mediate hole out from the fairway for eagle 3 at No. 1. The look is part bemusement, part incredulousness. Lee Janzen, in the same group, comes up about 20 yards short of the green in two and nearly cans his third. Nice way to start the day. For now the clouds are lifting and there's some blue sky between layers of clouds to the north. Keep the fingers crossed. 9:35 a.m. Heading down the hill toward the Pacific and Spyglass' front nine. On the way, took a peek at Singh; five empty baskets and the sixth upended and half depleted. Small baskets, but still. 9:22 a.m. Kirk Triplett walks across the practice green and gives a playful foot redirection to a practice putt by actor Thomas Gibson that's going wide left. "Love the show, big fan for many years," Triplett tells the approaching Gibson. "Love watching you over the years, too," Gibson says as they shake hands. And then Triplett says the magic phrase: "that's my wife over there, she's an even bigger fan." Gibson excuses himself, walks over to the ropes and greets her. The beaming smile says her day is complete. 9:01 a.m. Let's see ... one bucket of balls turned over for him to retrieve, one at a time. Two empty buckets next to the bag. Two full buckets beside them. Oh, and another tucked beneath a discarded head cover. An unopened umbrella stuck in the ground about four inches right of where each ball flies off the clubface. A headless shaft stuck in the ground at the rear of an alignment bar. And the metronomic cadence of ball after ball after ball after ... Vijay Singh, girls and boys, hard at work. Take that, Chris DiMarco. 8:51 a.m. Ray Romano, first shot, way right, over the heads of everyone on the practice tee, 75 yards off line. OB. Next one's a low banana that almost bangs off the trunk of a tree left of the fairway. Gonna be a long round. At least Bobby Clampett , in his group, can provide moral support. And lots of it. 8:39 a.m. DiMarco finally works up to his first driver shot, 11 minutes to start time. Rope hook. No doubt it's just the way he meant to hit it. Four drivers in rapid succession and power-walk off toward the practice green. The secret to being one of the top players in the world is spending time worrying about everything but golf just before a round. 8:31 a.m. Eight minutes. That's how much time elapses from when Chris DiMarco walks onto the practice tee (24 minutes before his starting time) and he hits his first warm-up wedge shot. In between he razzes Furyk about something, goes to one end of the tee and chuckles with Craig Barlow for a minute, power-walks to the other end looking for an open spot, then backtracks to settle in next to Brandt Snedeker. Between shots, he's extolling the virtues of SEC men's basketball to anyone within earshot. Guess his Florida Gators are having a good year. At least so far it's better than Duke, huh? 8:13 a.m. Bill Murray, jawing on the practice tee with Fluff Cowan, the long-time caddie for Jim Furyk. "How's your doofus loop?" Murray asks. Perhaps the only time this year someone will use that word about Furyk. "Good. We haven't played in two weeks, so we'll see," Cowan says. Murray's caddie, meanwhile, is toting a straw hat, the brim ringed by red cloth flowers. Guess who is going to wear that? 8:02 a.m. Ducked into the starter's tent to grab a hole location sheet and saw two things. First, the hole locations sheet is a revised version. That typically happens when a committee (in this case, the TOUR field staff) changes a few hole locations to higher spots in anticipation of inclement weather. Remember, these holes will be used for three days, until all 360 players have completed 54 holes. One low spot that puddles in a steady rain could halt play, which could be disastrous in such a tight schedule. Second, there's a notice in the tent that preferred lies (lift, clean and place) will be available in closely mown areas (tees, fairways and greens). That's another precaution that might not be needed until tomorrow or Saturday, but will benefit players immediately. Expect to see some low numbers as long as the rain holds off. 7:57 a.m. Here's the sign that it's a less-than-stellar day: Jesper Parnevik just strode to the first tee wearing a visor with a convention visor brim, not his typical turned up model. He's is the first group of the day off No. 1, a foursome including Andy Garcia, who is wearing a beret. Different. 7:47 a.m. Low clouds and a bit of a chill, although so far dry and calm. The practice tee is all business this morning with everyone diligently warming up. Spotted George Lopez on the practice green, looking far more relaxed than a few weeks ago, when he hosted the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. He's already autographing golf balls for the crowd. The atmosphere is decidedly lighter on the green. Rory Sabbatini is chatting with Lopez's caddie, a burly guy who is giving him plenty of grief. "I couldn't trust you farther than I could throw you," Sabbatini jokes. "And that's about six inches." 6:01 a.m. Seventy percent. That's the chance for precipitation today on the Monterey Peninsula, according to weather.com. The hour-by-hour forecast is "cloudy" until noon, "few showers" through 2 p.m. and then just plain "showers" from 3 p.m. until darkness. Or, as your intrepid correspondent likes to think of it, "time to go back to the hotel room and get dry." Would love to tell you that those puddles in the parking lot across the way are because of some film crew doing an overnight shoot that broke out a fire hose to give the locale a film noir look. But this being the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, there's only one reason for wet pavement. Thank you, Mother Nature, for joining the party this year. If you were around a few weeks ago for the celebrity blog from the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic then you know the drill. The primary target: The celebrities in the 180-player portion of the pro-am field. The list is at attpbgolf.com under the "tournament info" tab. Don't worry, the "regular" amateurs will get some attention. The pros, too. The next three days are two-player teams, once around each of the three courses. Along with the celebs are titans of industry and commerce, a smattering of locals and some guys who wanted to escape the office for a week. C'mon, you know you'd do the same if you could. Even on a 70-percent day. So if you're game to come along, we're going to spend several hours together roaming around Spyglass Hill during today's first round. Think of this blog as periodic messages from a field office keeping you abreast of the comings and goings. It's a one-way pipeline to a place where the scenery is beautiful, even if some of the golfers' games are not. Actually, this is a two-way conversation if you wish. One of the joys of a BlackBerry is that it can accept email from the curious, the incredulous, the confused and the bosses. If you've got a question, a request or you just want to ask about how hard the rain is falling, drop a line to brettavery@aol.com. Time to hit the road. Oh, and the other number for the day is 80 percent. That's the chance of rain for tomorrow's walk around Poppy Hills. Can. Hardly. Wait. |
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