Consider this my mid-winter rant.
Right now it’s 17 degrees with a windchill of two degrees here in the Hudson Valley and a forecast to get colder through the weekend. Last week’s warm temperatures that allowed a few dedicated golfers to sneak in a winter round is nothing but a memory with no chance of a repeat now.
But I keep telling myself all is not lost. I get to watch the PGA Tour on one of the most beautiful courses in the world, Pebble Beach. And even with the coverage showing more Chris Berman than Jordan Spieth looking at that gorgeous piece of land is worth it.
And I listen to the talking heads say how the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM has one of the best fields in recent memory with Spieth, Jason Day, Bubba Watson, Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed (all top ten golfers) in the field.
With that in mind I have to ask myself ”Why would any player not be playing this week?”
Pebble Beach is one of the iconic courses in the world and listed as many player’s favorite course. Jack Nicklaus loved playing at Pebble, with good reason, and played there every year until he called it quits.
I understand that PGA Tour players have to plan a schedule that suits their lifestyle but this is Pebble Beach!
Nowadays, a pro golfer has his choice on where to play. And if you’re a top player all the world is calling with appearance fees galore.
The PGA Tour’s 2015 money list has 102 golfers that earned over a million dollars. The 125th place golfer, Chad Collins made $747,814. Not bad for the middle of the pack.
So there’s plenty of cash to be made out there on tour.
But playing at Pebble Beach has to have some extra juice, above and beyond the dollars even to a bunch of jaded pros.
It seems that those players that are regulars at the AT&T love the course and some even say they like the format of celebrities and amateurs playing all four days. Or maybe they are just being politically correct and putting up with them for a chance to earn a million bucks while playing an amazing golf course.
It’s a tough life that PGA Tour, playing the best courses, earning more money in a week than most make in decades. But anyone that passes on playing Pebble either has too much money in the bank or just doesn’t get it.
Ever since Bing Crosby started his “Clambake” close to eighty years ago this has been a special tournament. And when it moved to Pebble Beach in 1947 Bing’s celebrity friends gave a struggling PGA Tour a much needed lift.
Back in the day, this was the tournament to play in. Now with Jordan and Jason and Phil making the commitment to Pebble maybe it will regain some of that sex appeal that made it a “must play” for so many years.
After all, it is Pebble Beach and that alone should be reason enough.
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