Tiger Woods looks forward to one more chance at East Lake

For the golfer who wants his resume to be the envy of his fellow professionals, there are certain venues that capture attention. Obviously wins at Augusta National come not only with a Green Jacket but yards of cache. Really, wins at any major, of which Mark O’Meara has a pair including one at the Masters, look good on a resume. But what about other venues? Where does it really matter if a guy has won outside of the four majors? Surely, TPC Sawgrass is on the short list. And so is Pebble Beach, home of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA TOUR and the PURE Insurance Championship on PGA TOUR Champions, otherwise known as O’Meara’s personal playground. O’Meara, 65, won an event at Pebble Beach in each of three decades beginning with the 1979 California State Amateur. He won the PGA TOUR event played at Pebble five times, including the last time it was called the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am and four times after AT&T became the title sponsor. “Sometimes you hear people say O’Meara won 16 times but five were at Pebble Beach,” O’Meara said Wednesday. “Well, with all due respect to the great venues out there, where would you rather win five? Unless you win a major or The Players Championship, Pebble is probably next on the hit list.” Phil Mickelson joined O’Meara in 2019 as a five-time winner at Pebble. O’Meara said he texted Lefty in the aftermath and said, “Congratulations but I think that’s enough, young man.” O’Meara has been hitting Pebble hard since his first trip to the Monterey Peninsula, for the California State Amateur in 1979, when he was a senior at Long Beach State. He was immediately taken by the beauty and mystique of the area. It also didn’t hurt that he won the 36-hole final match 8&7. O’Meara credits that first trip as being a cornerstone of his success at Pebble Beach. Before he had even turned pro, he had good vibes for the place. He also didn’t mind the poa annua greens. They can be very bumpy and tricky to read, but O’Meara grew up in Mission Viejo putting on poa annua. “It was a combination of factors that lead to my success at Pebble,” said O’Meara, who added that he’ll play about a dozen events on PGA TOUR Champions this season, including the PURE Insurance Championship. “First for me to go back there and have all the fond memories of the State Amateur. And a lot of great players won the California State Amateur. I also love to play so much in the natural beauty and growing up on poa annua greens that are very bumpy and knowing you have to be very patient. “You also have to be patient because being in the final group it can take almost six hours to play. You’re playing with amateurs. I love amateurs. My dad was a real people person, a sales guy. I had more fun playing with amateurs than I did my pros. They were an escape for me to not always worry about what was happening with Mark O’Meara on the golf course. It took my mind off what I was doing right or wrong on the course. Instead of just focusing on me, if I could engage with the amateurs it took my mind away. I just used them as a positive, not a distraction. Other guys don’t feel the same way about it. That’s why I had a lot of success at Pebble.” O’Meara won the tournament once with his dad as his amateur partner. He cited that as one of the most cherished memories of his life. The year was 1990. They had first played together in 1986, the year after his first victory at the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. And they made the cut. After O’Meara won in 1989, he invited his dad to come play with him one more time. “I gave it to him as a Christmas present,” O’Meara said. “I flew him and mom out and then I won the tournament playing alongside my dad. I put that right at the top of the list of great things, winning at Augusta with a putt on the final hole, winning the U.S. Amateur. But to play with my father and coming up the last hole, the 18th hole at Pebble, you can’t do better than that.”

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The United States has a big lead. Can it hold onto it or will Europe make a run? We have previews, odds, predictions and results to keep you up to date.

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Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Left Over Ted Potter, Jr., was the last-man standing Sunday afternoon as he picked up his first win on TOUR since The Greenbrier Classic in 2012. Paired in the final group with Dustin Johnson, the lefty birdied four of his first seven holes and cruised home to victory. He parred his final 11 holes and never saw his lead shrink to less than two on the back nine. It looked to be a daunting task as all Potter had to do on Sunday was beat Johnson head’s up, hold off Phil Mickelson, Jason Day and Chez Reavie and back up his career-best round of 62 Saturday. Check, check and check. And a REALLY BIG CHECK after he signed his card! The key for Potter was saving six chances when he missed GIR in the final round. He kept his nerve with his wedge and his putter and never showed any cracks. Entering this week he played three weekends from eight tries and his best finish was T13. He had only cashed for three other top 10’s before today in his career and one of those was at Riviera, the site of next week’s event. Second Best Dustin Johnson couldn’t beat Ted Potter over 18 holes but his birdie on the final hole helps gamers in both PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game formats. It doesn’t sound great right now, but T2 is better than T6 on every single front. Johnson destroyed the par 5s to the tune of 14-under-par and didn’t win. I write this every week: Golf happens. There are no guarantees. There are more than a few of us who would be out our house, car or whatever this week after Potter’s stunning performance. All Systems Go Jason Day joins Dustin Johnson with the same record after two events this year, Win and T2. Both of them are in the AUTOMATIC category at this event annually as they share 13 combined top-10 finishes between them. Day’s short game, especially the putter, was the difference this week as he led the field in strokes-gained: putting during the two rounds at Pebble Beach. No Signs of Slowing Down Phil Mickelson backed up his T5 at WMPO last week with his 10th top 10 in 22 tries at Pebble Beach with T2. Lefty only made five bogeys (no others) on the week along with 19 circles for birdies. He was the most-selected player in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf One & Done Game presented by SERVPRO and he rewarded those investors handsomely. I was one of them and I will NEVER complain about T2 especially from a guy who hasn’t won since 2013. The last time Mickelson hit the top 10 in three consecutive starts was 2009 and it started with a win at Riviera. Devil in the Details Hey, look! Chez Reavie in the top 10 again! His outstanding run of form can be traced back to the fall of 2016. Similar to former Sun Devil Pat Perez, Reavie’s vein of form isn’t a one-hit wonder but it hasn’t found the winner’s circle, yet. Most guys who lose in a playoff don’t show up the next week but Reavie took his lesson and turned it into T2. The most interesting part of the last two weeks is that he’s doing the business on tracks where he’s never had any success. He’s dialed in regardless of where they’re playing! Run, Don’t Walk Jimmy Walker is going to test the patience and emotions of gamers next week at his beloved Riviera. Walker has made it no secret over the years that this is one of his favorite tracks to play on TOUR. His 67 on Sunday at Pebble Beach, another one of his favorite tracks, included seven birdies against one double to collect his first top-10 check since the 2016 Dell Technologies Championship (third). His round Sunday was six shots better than his round on Saturday on the same track.   Pro-Am Champs Kevin Streelman is doing an excellence Chez Reavie impersonation minus the podium finishes. He did take home the trophy this week with Larry Fitzgerald as they walked over the competition to easily win the Pro-Am. Streelman has been rattling off cuts for fun this season and most of last year but his solo sixth check is the biggest since T4 at the 2016 OHL Mayakoba Classic. Find guys who are playing well instead of breaking streaks of those who are not! Sunday Silence Please remember how great Tiger Woods was in his day before getting mad at the new stars of the game. They won’t close every Sunday. Jon Rahm has been right there the last three Sundays after his win at CareerBuilder.com. The last three Sundays he’s posted 77, 72 and 76 and fallen out of the top 10 each week. Again, nothing is automatic at this level! … Add Beau Hossler to this list for the third consecutive event he’s played in as well. His year has been excellent to this point minus the Sunday conversions but it’s all part of the learning experience. He has PLENTY of game. Study Hall Scott Stallings (7th), Grayson Murray (T8) and Brandon Harkins (T15) shared the low round of the day with 66. Murray hit the top 10 with THREE double bogeys on his card this week. Harkins now has seven top-25 finishes in 10 starts this year while Stallings picks up his first top 10 since last July at the Barbasol Championship. … Brian Gay has posted back-to-back top 10’s after his T8 this week … Paul Casey lost in a playoff to James Hahn at the 2015 edition of the Genesis Open at Riviera. He made his U.S. tune-up this week with T8. … Bubba Watson, two-time winner at Riviera, will be playing in Saturday night’s NBA All-Star Celebrity game. Now you know. … Ben Taylor won the Club Colombia Championship by six shots … Mark Calcavecchia held off Bernhard Langer by two shots to win the Boca Raton Championship on PGA TOUR Champions. … Kiradech Aphibarnrat won the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth.

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