February 9 2011 Last updated at 03:36 PM ET
Yep, the PGA Tour is playing again this week. It's the Pebble Beach AT&T National Pro-Am.
That means Pebble Beach. Cool. Great tournament. There is the celebrity/amateur thingy that was once very, very hip when Bing Crosby was the host, but now too many people wonder "who the hell is Bing Crosby?" and Bill Murray, George Lopez and Andy Garcia are the celebrity headliners.
Play will be slow and the weather most-likely lousy, but there may be no greater piece of real estate in golf than Pebble Beach.
Remember, they did play the U.S. Open there last year.
Graeme McDowell won it, but Dustin Johnson came close. That's significant because Johnson did win the two Pebble Beach Pro-Am stops before that. So, despite the fact Johnson in June shot a final-round 82 to fall out of the hunt, he led after three rounds and also has been the winner at the previous two PGA Tour events at Pebble Beach by one shot over David Duval and J.B. Holmes last year and four in front of Mike Weir in 2009.
FLASHBACK
Johnson closed with a 2-over 74, the highest final round by a Pebble Beach champion since Johnny Miller (74) in 1994.
But tied for the lead going to the par-5 18th hole, Johnson's drive was long and pure. He then hit a 3-iron into the front right bunker, and blasted out to 3 feet , setting up the winning birdie.
The victory made Johnson the first player in 20 years to win back-to-back at Pebble Beach.
When the birdie rolled in, Johnson celebrated with a fist pump, as much a sign of relief as jubilation. During the long day, four different players had a share of the lead at some point.
"All you can ask for is a chance to win on the last hole," Johnson said.
Paul Goydos didn't get that opportunity. Leading by one shot with five holes to play, Goydos hit a chip that ran off the other side of the treacherous 14th green, another chip that came back down the slope toward his feet and three-putted for a quadruple-bogey 9.
He wound up with a 78 and tied for fifth.
Two other players - Bryce Molder and Alex Prugh - also made a 9 on the par-5 14th hole, the kind of carnage typically seen at the U.S. Open, which will be at Pebble in four months.
"It wasn't like I didn't try on all nine shots," Goydos said. "The ninth one I really wasn't all that excited about. Just everything I did on that hole didn't work out."
THE GOLF COURSE
Pebble Beach Golf Links gets most of the attention -- after all the event is called Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, but the 6,816 yard par 72 will share some of the action with Spyglass Hill (par 72, 6,953) and Monterey Peninsula CC Shore Course (par 70, 6,838 yards).
WORTH NOTING
When Johnson won last year at Pebble Beach, he became the first player since Tiger Woods to join the PGA Tour straight out of college and win at least one event in each of his first three seasons.
BY THE NUMBERS
4: Players with three or more career wins at Pebble Beach -- Mark O'Meara (5), Jack Nicklaus (3), Johnny Miller (3) and Phil Mickelson (3).
12: Career victories by Mickelson in multiple-course PGA Tour events, the most by any active player.
25: Consecutive AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am starts by Davis Love.
AND OUR WINNER IS ...
J.B. Holmes.
Arrives fresh off a closing-round, birdie-free 67 at Phoenix to tie for fifth. Last year's tie for second proves continued string of good play at Pebble Beach.
Source: http://golf.fanhouse.com/2011/02/09/pga-set-to-host-another-pebble-beach-party-for-atandt-pro-am/
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