Live Report: AT&T Pebble Beach, Round 1
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WHERE HE LEFT OFF (7:20 p.m.): The first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is in the books, and there's a familiar name at the top of the leaderboad.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson birdied his final five holes at Pebble Beach to seize sole possession of the lead at 8 under. He's one stroke ahead of J.B. Holmes and K.J. Choi, both of whom also played at Pebble Beach, and two up on Charley Hoffman, who played the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club.
Johnson is at a loss to explain his success at Pebble Beach. He simply has a comfort zone, and it shows in his scores. Johnson is 29 under in eight rounds at the tournment and has a tie for seventh iin his debut to go with last year's win.
"Ever since the first time I came here I've really liked this golf course: the way it sets up to my eye," Johnson said. "It's a special place. It's so beautiful out here, especially today. The weather was awesome."
Johnson's first birdie during that closing stretch came at the 14th hole, a 573-yard par 5. The big-hitting South Carolinian was just off the front edge in two and chipped up to 4 feet for the birdie.
He hit a sand wedge from 120 yards in the left rough to 5 feet for his second birdie and added a 7-iron to 6 feet at the 16th hole. Johnson's fourth birdie came at the famous par-3 17th where he sent another 7-iron to 7 feet.
Johnson actually had a 22-footer for eagle at the 18th hole after a 3-iron approach from 240 yards. He misread his putt, though, and had to settle for the birdie.
"Every time you get good weather out here, especially with the greens being this soft and being able to lift, clean, and place it in the fairway, if you swing well and make some putts, you can shoot a good number here," Johnson said. "But, you know, it can also go the other way. If you're not putting well and not swinging too well, you're not gonna play good."
Johnson, who tied for third last week at the Northern Trust Open, appears to be doing well on both counts. -- Helen Ross
PHIL'S PUTTING WOES (6:53 p.m.) Phil Mickelson, a three-time champ of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am turned in a relatively solid, if unspectacular, round of 2 under on Thursday.
His putter was his undoing on the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Mickelson gave himself chances -- hitting all but two greens in regulation -- but needed 33 putts.
"I struggled on the greens," he acknowledged. But Mickelson is a fan of the par-70 Shore layout, which has replaced Poppy Hills in the three-course rotation.
"It's a terrific track," Mickelson said. "One of my favorites now on TOUR. I think Mike Strantz did a great job in his design of the bunkering, the greens, the holes, the layout, the playable of it. It's really a wonderful track, and a great addition to this tournament."
Mickelson said it compared favorably to Pebble Beach in terms of subtlety, asthetics and playabiliity. Thursday's calm conditions produced an abundance of of low scores which made his inability to get the ball in the hole even more frustrating.
"There were a lot of holes out there that you could make birdie on without the wind," Mickelson said. "If the wind starts blowing, this golf course is a real difficult one because it's so exposed out on the ocean.
"But we caught it on a pretty calm day, and I thought that there was some low rounds to be had out there. But you've got to make some putts and roll the ball well on the green if you're gonna shoot a low number. So that was the one area that I didn't quite do." -- Helen Ross
COMFORT ZONE (6:30 p.m.): Charley Hoffman is a pretty laid-back guy. Maybe that's why he does so well in celebrity events.
Hoffman picked up his first PGA TOUR victory at the 2007 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and followed with two top-20 finishes. And he's one shot off the lead this week after the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
So what is Hoffman's strategy? "You definitely have to go with the flow," he said after shooting a 6-under 64 at Monterey Peninsula Country Club.
Hoffman is playing this year with David Steiner, who is the CEO of Waste Management, one of his sponsors. A year ago, he was in the main part of the celebrity rotation, partnered with actor Luke Wilson.
"I like meeting new people," said Hoffman, who added he doesn't mind the longer rounds. "... (It's) fun to play golf with them and it's nice over the years to get to meet guys. You come back and you see familiar faces. It's a fun format to play for sure."
Seeing some of the athletes in person can be an eye-opening experience, too..
"They're all huge guys," Hoffman said. "I mean, Tom Brady is a big tall guy; Romo is a pretty big guy himself. I just had my charity event down in San Diego, and Marshall Faulk played, and a few other Chargers.
"They look big in pads but in person they're just as big. It's fun to meet those guys, and it's amazing the people you meet playing golf. I mean, everybody loves golf and it's a great sport where everybody can play."
Hoffman used an eagle at the par-5 sixth, his 15th of the day, to get to 6 under. He hit his drive down the right side of the fairway and the cozied a hybrid from 240 yards to set up the eagle putt.
"(The hybrid) just landed over the bunker and sort of the trickled on and around the green," Hoffman recalled. "A little small plateau up there, and I made about an 18 footer for eagle. Actually, pretty good eagle. -- Helen Ross
HOLMES ON THE EAGLE (6:10 p.m.): J.B. Holmes had a stellar finish at Pebble Beach Thursday to claim a share of the lead after the first round. He holed an 8-iron from 174 yards for an eagle at the eighth hole and then added a 39-foot birdie putt at the next to shoot 7 under.
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Holmes hit a hybrid off the eighth tee that actually ran farther than he had anticipated. The 8-iron then spun back about 8 feet into the hole, and Holmes celebrated by pumping both fists into the air.He's tied with K.J. Choi and defending champion Dustin Johnson.
"That's one of the rare occasions where you make one and you actually hit it perfect," Holmes said. "I hit it right where I was aiming. (The) ball cut exactly like I wanted. It was just perfect the whole time. I was worried it might be a little bit long, but hit just on the back there and backed up and went in.
"Most times when you see people, from what I've heard, it's not a perfect shot. They hit it a little thin or they'll push it and it bounces in. You usually don't hit too many right at the flag that go in. A lot of times it spins in from an angle or something."
CELEBRITY UPDATE (6 p.m.): K.J. Choi and his partner, Hollis Cavner, lead the race at 12 under. Cavner's day job doesn't take him too far from the game -- he's the tournament director of the 3M Championship on the Champions Tour.
Brad Faxon and Tom Ryan are tied with defending champ Dustin Johnson and Joe Rice for second, one stroke off the pace. Johnson, who is tied for the lead with Choi and J.B. Holmes, and his partner have one hole left.
SINGH SIZZLES (5:45 p.m.): Vijay Singh just put together his low round of the young season at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. He opened with a bogey but followed with six birdies, including four on the back nine, to shoot 5-under 65.
Singh won at Pebble Beach in 2004 and he has three runner-up finishes, as well. Could this be a springboard for the big Fijian, who has won 34 times on the PGA TOUR but is coming off just his second winless season since 1997? -- Helen Ross
DUSTIN DEFENDS (5:23 p.m.): Dustin Johnson stepped into an unfamiliar role weilding a microphone Wednesday night and helped entertain the media at the CBS reception. He was back in his comfort zone using golf clubs on Thursday, though, and it showed.
Johnson is playing Pebble Beach and he is 5 under through 15 holes. He made four birdies and two bogeys on the front to turn in 2 under, and the big-hitting 25-year-old has added three birdies on the back.
To see Johnson playing well is no surprise. He shot 13 under last week at Riviera and tied for third. Johnson also tied for 16th in his first two starts.
ADAMS ON MOVE: (5:05 p.m.): Blake Adams, who finished third on the Nationwide Tour money list last year to earn his card, had not played a PGA TOUR event until four weeks ago.
He tied for 25th in his debut at the Sony Open in Hawaii and then picked up another check three weeks later at the Farmers Insurance Open.
On Thursday, the Georgia Southern product posted his career low on TOUR and the 65 left him two strokes off the lead held by J.B. Holmes and K.J. Choi. He's in the clubhouse, tied with Jeff Maggert, David Duval, Matt Jones, Mike Weir and Alex Cejka. -- Helen Ross
DUVAL CONTENDING (4:20 p.m.): As mentioned earlier, it's been pretty much feast or famine for David Duval. How much so? Well, in 2009, he missed the cut in 16 of 22 events. His only finish in the top 50 in the six tournaments he did make the cut in was that magical runner-up at the U.S. Open.
This year hasn't been much different. The one-time No. 1 player in the world missed the cut at the Bob Hope Classic, failing to break 73 in two of his four rounds (the cut in the five-round event comes after the fourth round). Last week, Duval finished in a tie for 76th at the Northern Trust Open -- where he missed the secondary cut after a third-round 76. See the chart below for more. -- Brian Wacker
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MORE ON HOLMES (4:30 p.m.): J.B. Holmes followed that eagle with a 39-footer for birdie at the ninth hole to finish off his round. With it, he took sole possession of the lead at 7 under. He was soon joined at that number by Choi, who rolled in a 9-footer for birdie at the 15th hole at Pebble Beach.-- Helen Ross
ANOTHER EAGLE SOARS (4:15 p.m.) About the time Charley Hoffman was making his eagle, another big-hitter, J.B. Holmes, joined him at the top of the leaderboard when he holed a shot from the fairway on the eighth hole at Pebble Beach.
Holmes started on the back nine and turned in 32. On the front, he's had two birdies, two bogeys and the eagle that came from 178 yards out. -- Helen Ross
HOFFMAN HEATS UP (4 p.m.): An eagle on the sixth hole of the Shore Course has staked Charley Hoffman to a share of the lead at 6 under. He started on the back nine and has three holes remaining.
His record at Pebble Beach isn't stellar -- last year's tie for 14th was his best (by 36 spots) in four starts. But Hoffman is off to a great start with five birdies and one eagle while dropping a single shot to par.
And Hoffman has got to like the way he's playing with the Waste Management Phoenix Open two weeks on the horizon. He lost a playoff to Kenny Perry last year.
DUVAL ON THE RISE (3:36 p.m.): David Duval's comeback continues at Pebble Beach. He's 6 under through 13 holes at Spyglass Hill and has yet to make a bogey.
Duval, who is now tied with K.J. Choi, Charlie Hoffman and Brian Gay, has only missed one green.and has found seven of his first 10 fairways. He's been runner-up at Pebble Beach twice, in 1995 and '97.
But it's been a feast or famine year for Duval. He's shot in the 60s three times in seven rounds -- but has shot 73 or higher in the other four. He missed the cut at the Bob Hope Classic and tied for 72nd last week at the Northern Trust Open. -- Helen Ross
NO COUCH POTATO (3:15 p.m.): One of the last times we saw Chris Couch he was holing an improbable 54-foot chip for par on the 72nd hole to win the 2006 Zurich Classic of New Orleans after making the cut on the number.
He's been hamped by a shoulder injury of late -- missing the entire 2008 season and even withdrawing after the first round last week at Riviera. He's playing this year out of the Major Medical Extension category and has 21 events to earn the $796,087 that would give him status for the rest of the year.
The added rest last week must have helped Couch. He is 4 under through 14 holes at Pebble Beach and two shots off the lead. -- Helen Ross
WILL-IS HE OR WON"T HE (2:50 p.m.): Garrett Willis is back on the PGA TOUR full-time for the first time since the 2004 season. He earned his way back by finishing 12th on the Nationwide Tour money list last year.
He's off a good start at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, too, after playing his first 12 holes in 4 under. Willis, who is among the players at Pebble Beach Golf Links, is two strokes off the lead.
Willis' record on the Monterey Peninsula hasn't been anything to write home about -- until Thursday. In eight starts at the tournament, he's missed five cuts and was disqualified last year. He's also had two top-25 finishes.
Willis tied for 26th in his 2010 debut at the Bob Hope Classic but missed the cut last week. -- Helen Ross
LOGJAM AT THE TOP (2:34 p.m.): Wow. All of a sudden it's crowded at the top. There are six players tied at 5 under -- Jeff Maggert, J.B. Holmes, Brian Gay, K.J. Choi and Notah Begay.
Four of the six are playing on the par-70 Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club while Begay and Choi are playing Pebble Beach. All but Choi have made the turn and he's playing No. 9.
Spyglass Hill is traditionally the most difficult of the three in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am rotation. The lowest score there is 3 under -- Cameron Percy (through 11 holes), Matt Jones (10 holes), David Duval (nine) and Ryuji Imada (four). -- Helen Ross
CHOI CHECKS IN AT THE TOP (2:13 p.m.): K.J. Choi, who many thought would be the first Asian to win a major championship until Y.E. Yang captured last year's PGA, is mired in a two-year victory drought.
An eagle and three straight birdies have vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, though. He's tied with Notah Begay at 5 under. Both are playing at Pebble Beach in the first round.
Begay was a top-10 performer in the FedExCup until last year when he slipped to 101st. He also broke a string of seven straight $1 million-plus seasons last year when he finished 93rd on the money list. -- Helen Ross
PHIL ON THE MOVE (1:56 p.m.): Phil Mickelson is still trying to recapture the form that marked the end of his 2009 campaign that included wins at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola and the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.
The return to Pebble Beach might be just what the doctor ordered for Mickelson, who won a total of four times last year. He's played his first nine holes at the Shore Course in 2 under and is three shots off the lead.
Mickelson is a three-time winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, most recently in 2007. He also has two third-place finishes.
His early results in 2010 have been mixed, though. Mickelson finished 19th at the Farmers Insurance Open and then tied for 45th last week at the Northern Trust Open as the two-time defending champion.
Here's a look at how Mickelson has fared in this event. -- Helen Ross
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NOTABLE BEGAY (1:46 p.m.): Notah Begay is playing this season on a Major Medical Exemption. As such, he has seven events to earn $608,038 to keep his PGA TOUR card for the rest of the season.
So the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am could be big for Begay, who has just taken over sole possession of the lead in his 2010 PGA TOUR debut. He's 5 under through seven holes at Pebble Beach.
Begay, who is a four-time PGA TOUR champ but has battled chronic back problems of late, has made four birdies in a row and five in a six-hole stretch. -- Helen Ross
GAY GOES FOR IT (1:30 p.m.): Brian Gay has only played in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am three times -- and he's never made the cut.
Looks like that might change this week. Gay has just taken a share of the lead after playing his first seven holes on the Shore Course in 4 under.
Gay, who has made four birdies in a five-hole stretch that began at the second hole, won twice in 2009 at the Verizon Heritage and St. Jude Classic -- but a combined total of 15 shots. He hasn't played at Pebble Beach since 200 but has likely come to get a look at the course in advance of the U.S. Open in June.
GORE GOES THE DISTANCE (1:11 p.m.) Jason Gore is showing no signs of jet lag -- even though he has every right to be tired.
The affable Californian has played the last two weeks on the Nationwide Tour, first in New Zealand and then in Australia. He tied for 47th at the Michael Hill New Zealand Open but missed the cut last week at the Moonah Classic.
It's a short little 15-hour flight from Australia to Los Angeles. Gore, who grew up in southern California and graduated from Pepperdine, has played in seven AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Ams and tied for ninth in 2008.
Gore is playing the Shore Course on Thursday and he's 2 under through five holes. He is competing this year under past champion status after finishing 170th on the money list so a good finish at Pebble Beach would be a huge bonus. -- Helen Ross
GREEN GOLF (12:50 p.m.) Watch closely when Don Cheadle bends over and tees it up. He is playing a recyclable golf ball made by Dixon Golf this week.
"I am a single-digit handicapped and feel that the Dixon Earth Ball fits my game as well as any ball out there," the actor said in press release.
The golf ball is made from reprocessable materials and is 100 percent recyclable. Dixon's golf ball recycling program allows golfers to get cash credits good for future purchases. -- Helen Ross
GOYDOS GOES CRAZY (12:42 p.m.): The talk last week when Corey Pavin announced his assistant captains for the Ryder Cup was whether one of the four, Davis Love III, would be able to shake things up and actually qualify for his seventh team.
But the other current TOUR pro turned assistant, Paul Goydos, is playing well early on the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. The man they call "Sunshine" has played six holes and has only made one par. He's tied with Lee Janzen at 3 under atop the leaderboard.
Goydos started on the back and reeled off three straight birdies before bogeying the 13th hole. He parred the 14th and came back with a birdie at No. 15. -- Helen Ross
BEST CELEBRITIES? (12:25 p.m.): Looking for the hot pick among the celebrities? Actors Andy Garcia and Jeffrey Donovan might be good choices.
The two won the 3M Celebrity Challenge on Wednesday. They won the first hole when Donovan made a 13-foot birdie putt and the final one with a bogey. The two split $22,000 with Garcia's money going to The First Tee of Monterey County and Donovan's to the Amesbury Educational Foundation, Inc.
Coming in second in the alternate shot competition were Don Cheadle and Kenny G. Cheadle's $3,500 was donated to Ante Up for Africa while Kenny G gave his money to Project MuszEd.
The members of the other four teams each received $1,000 to donate to their charity.
Most of the celebrities are playing the Monterey Peninsula Shore Course in the first round. For a complete list of the celebrities in this week's field, click here. -- Helen Ross
WEATHER UPDATE (12:20 p.m.): Looks like Mother Nature is finally going to smile on the Monterey Peninsula this week.
The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am has often been pounded by rain -- including last year's tournament which was shortened to 54 holes. But Thursday's first round was greeted by ample sunshine and sweater weather.
There is a slight, just 30-percent chance of showers on Friday, but no rain is in the forecast on the weekend. Sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-60s should bring out the crowds on Saturday and Sunday.
By the way, the volunteer uniforms at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am are among the best in the business. Red jacket, white plus-fours and black-and-red argyle socks. Very snazzy. -- Helen Ross
LIFT, CLEAN AND PLACE (11:59 a.m.): Recent storms that pounded the California coast have left the three courses in the AT&T Pebble Beach rotation considerably damp. So the first three rounds -- when the pros play once each on Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula -- will be contested under lift-clean-and-place rules.
A decision on Sunday's final round, when everyone plays at Pebble Beach, will be made that morning. -- Helen Ross
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