The art of camaraderie between pro and amateur at AT&T Pebble Beach

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Often, it is “completely random,” as Viktor Hovland explained about being paired with Brian Niccoli, CEO of Chipotle. Other times it is pure happenstance, as Ben Silverman said a chance meeting with NFL star Aaron Rodgers a year ago sort of put things in motion.

Then there are those intuitive matchmakers who just know that a pro would mesh nicely with an amateur. That’s how we’ve got Lucas Glover with Stephen Mack enjoying yet another festive week in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

“It’s the biggest of the biggest in the (pro-am) business,” said Glover, who credits a longtime friend, Chris Nagle, to introducing him to Mack. “He’s become a great friend and it’s a lot of fun to be here, especially when you have a team that you’re both invested in.”

Why teams connected in this Pebble Beach Pro-Am can vary.

Two-time winners Kevin Streelman and his partner, Larry Fitzgerald Jr., for instance, are members of the same club in Scottsdale, Ariz., Whisper Rock. Kevin Kisner and Charles Kelley of the country group Lady A, have Georgia roots.

But if you pay heed to a distinguished amateur who was part of a winning team alongside Johnny Miller years ago, the secret ingredient at this pro-am is that amateurs coming equipped to think “we” and not “I.”

“Anything an amateur does in a Pro-Am is solely for their own satisfaction and desire to compete,” said Locke de Bretteville. “It’s certainly not about to make the headlines.”

True enough, because come Sunday, the greater focus will shift to the tournament and who triumphs for $1,620,000. There will be a pro-am winner with a far less glamorous prize, though take it from Jim Renner, there is a sense of forever that stays with you.

“Whoever thought I’d be on the wall at the AT&T at Pebble?” laughed Renner, who no longer plays on TOUR but in 2014 was good enough to help win the pro-am portion with John Harkey. “I’ll always have that Pebble memory.”

For Hovland, the memories this week will certainly spring from the fact he practically lived at Chipotle while attending Oklahoma State. “Didn’t necessarily have the funds to splurge on the guac and double meat,” the perpetually happy man from Oslo laughed, in acknowledging that he’s now in a different tax bracket.

“It’s nice to be able to do that now.”

Hovland agrees that the pairing with Niccoli was a great stroke of fortune. “When I looked on the list and saw Brian’s name, I figured that would be kind of funny. (Now) I’m playing with the man himself.”

Silverman, a last-minute entrant after winning a Korn Ferry Tour tournament in the Bahamas, knows his star power can’t quite reach Rodgers’, but the fact that their pairing works well is a testament to the magic of this grandest of all pro-ams.

Once Silverman knew he was in, “we were trying to get hooked up to play together,” said Silverman. “I was just excited to get to spend more time with him. It’s been awesome.”

Likewise, one of Silverman’s peers, Keith Mitchell, is equally thrilled to be alongside an NFL starting quarterback. “His golf swing. He was asking for some tips,” Mitchell said after Thursday’s opening round with Josh Allen.

Mitchell, of course, was thrilled to offer whatever advice he could. “It’s a really fun group. To be able to play in a tournament and have that much fun is pretty rare.”

Perhaps no team embraces this AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as fervently as Jordan Spieth and country music star Jake Owen. In the lineup here for an 11th straight year, Spieth said he and Owen might not mention a word about Pebble Beach for most of the year, but it’s a foregone conclusion where they’ll be in early February.

“Having a good partner this week is key in these long rounds,” said Spieth. “You want to have someone that you can have fun with and keep it light. I feel fortunate to have that this week.”

Not that Owen doesn’t occasionally hit a speed bump.

“We know each other’s games (but) I think he still knows there are times when not to say certain things,” chuckled Spieth. “Like, ‘Hey, so, are you going to like make a birdie or are you just going to keep making bogeys?’

“He’ll say something like that. And I’m like, ‘Oh, maybe that isn’t the nicest thing to say at the time.’ ”

Spieth shrugged. It’s a small hiccup in a week that is universally beloved – because of the surroundings and your teammate.