Vokey T-Grind lob wedge no longer limited to the TOUR

Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, owners of six Pebble Beach titles between them, seek to add to their totals as they top the marquee along with a resurgent Matt Kuchar and defending champion Ted Potter Jr. Jason Day, who shared runner-up honors last year alongside Mickelson and Johnson, also is back in quest of an elusive first Pebble Beach crown. This year’s pro-am field runs heavy on country musicians (Toby Keith, Jake Owen, Darius Rucker, Colt Ford), joined by comedian Ray Romano, surfer Kelly Slater and quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan. FIELD NOTES: Adam Scott, fresh off a runner-up finish at the Farmers Insurance Open, comes to Pebble Beach for a second straight year. The Aussie remains in pursuit of his first win since 2016 at Doral. … In all, Pebble Beach expects to welcome 16 of the top 30 in the current FedExCup standings. … European Ryder Cup hero Tommy Fleetwood makes his Pebble Beach debut, playing on U.S. soil for the first time since last year’s FedExCup Playoffs. … Doug Ghim, who tied for 20th at Torrey Pines, steps back into the fray on an exemption. … Peter Jacobsen, age 64, is one of six entrants who have crossed the 50 threshold. The others: Davis Love III, Jerry Kelly, Steve Stricker, Vijay Singh and Kenny Perry. … Korean pro Ho Sung Choi, a recent winner in Japan and an Internet sensation for a swing that ends in a near-pirouette, tees it up on a sponsor invite. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. STORYLINES: Mickelson is back for a 23rd start at Pebble Beach, where a fifth win would draw him alongside Mark O’Meara atop Pebble Beach’s all-time list. Eleven of Mickelson’s 43 PGA TOUR wins have come in California, plus seven runner-up finishes. … Johnson makes his first TOUR start since the Sentry Tournament of Champions, having played two of the past three weeks in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. … Though Day owns four top-6 finishes at Pebble Beach in the past six editions, the Aussie has yet to finish on top. He arrives off a share of fifth at Torrey Pines. … Arizona Cardinals wideout Larry Fitzgerald defends the team division title he won alongside Kevin Streelman. Fitzgerald recently made headlines with an ace at Seminole Golf Club’s 13th hole – with former president Barack Obama as a playing partner. COURSE: Pebble Beach Golf Links, 6,816 yards, par 72. Celebrating its 100th anniversary, the scenic marvel along Carmel Bay gets two turns in the spotlight this year with the U.S. Open to follow in June. It’s been a PGA TOUR staple since 1947, when crooner Bing Crosby revived his popular “Clambake� pro-am after World War II. Amateurs Jack Neville and Douglas Grant worked to build as many holes as possible along the Pacific coastline, a plan that puts Pebble Beach at or near the top of every list of America’s top courses. Though Pebble Beach welcomed the first of five U.S. Amateurs in 1929, it wasn’t until 1972 that the U.S. Open first arrived. Four more Opens have followed, along with the 1977 PGA Championship. Spyglass Hill GC (6,953/72) and Monterey Peninsula CC’s Shore course (6,958/71) also are utilized over the first three days. For those visiting the area, must-play courses include Poppy Hills (Pebble Beach, Calif.) and Pasatiempo GC (Santa Cruz, Calif.). Book your reservations via TeeOff.com. 72-HOLE RECORD: 265, Brandt Snedeker (2015). 18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Sung Kang at Monterey Peninsula (2nd round, 2016). Pebble Beach record: 62, Tom Kite (3rd round, 1983), David Duval (3rd round, 1997). Spyglass Hill record: 62, Phil Mickelson (1st round, 2005), Luke Donald (1st round, 2006). LAST YEAR: Potter stole the spotlight from his big-name pursuers, making four birdies on the front nine and closing with 11 consecutive pars to finish three shots clear of Johnson, Mickelson and Day. An opening bogey made for an uncertain start, but it proved to be Potter’s only blemish on the way to a 3-under-par 69 that sealed his second PGA TOUR victory. Johnson shared the top spot until No. 7, when Potter chipped in for birdie and Johnson couldn’t save par after flying the green. Johnson’s Sunday 72 was his first par-or-worse round at Pebble Beach in five years. Mickelson carded 67, Day shot 70 and Chez Reavie rounded out the runner-up foursome after a 68. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6:30 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (featured groups). Sunday, 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (featured groups). GOLFTV: International fans can stream PGA TOUR LIVE coverage from Thursday-Saturday, 16:00 to 23:00 GMT. Sunday, 16:00 to 23:30 via subscription to GOLF.TV. RADIO: Thursday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m. Sunday, 1-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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A few observations – some serious, some a little more lighthearted, much like the action Sunday at Medalist – from Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity. RELATED: Team Tiger-Peyton win at Medalist | Full leaderboard TIGER IN GREAT FORM. Yes, it’s his home course (he even has his own Tiger Tees at Medalist to create a 7,571 layout), so the local knowledge was a benefit. But wow, did Tiger look good, especially off the tee early, striping fairways to set up crisp approach shots. Most of us haven’t seen him swing a club since mid-February at The Genesis Invitational, but he looked in mid-season form. His competitive nature was also dialed in and it was no surprise to see him close out the match with a lag from distance that did everything but go in. AS FOR HIS SCHEDULE. Tiger was in the middle of answering a question from Charles Barkley about the adjusted PGA TOUR schedule – “Going to be interesting to see what happens,â€� he said – when Manning called him in to read a putt. So we’re still waiting to see when Tiger will make his next TOUR start. AS FOR MICKELSON. He wasn’t as sharp and admitted in midway through the front nine. “Not swinging that well,â€� he said after another errant shot. “Gotta get that fixed.â€� He did bust out one of his “bombsâ€� from the tee early on the back nine, driving the par-4 11th green, but his short game, as usual, bailed him out for the most part. BRADY’S HOLE-OUT. Golf can make anybody seem human … even a G.O.A.T. from another sport. No doubt Tom Brady was frustrated with his first six and a half holes and received plenty of grief from others (including Jimmy Fallon) engaging in some good-natured jokes. Brooks Koepka offered to donate $100,000 if Brady could make a par on the front nine. But like the greats always seem to do, he produced the best shot of the day. After being called out by Charles Barkley – and if you’ve seen Barkley swing a golf club, you understand that’s a significant jab — Brady responded by holing out for birdie from outside 100 yards at the par-4 seventh. The birdie won the bet from Koepka, who then doubled down for another $100,000 for par on either of the next two holes (didn’t happen). “That was some shot,â€� Koepka later told Brady via phone. “DELAYED SAUCE.â€� Just another in the growing list of Phil Mickelson idioms that also includes “activate the calvesâ€� and “hitting bombs.â€� After driving the par-4 11th, Mickelson described it as “high, nasty, straight bombs.â€� BEST TIGER-PHIL MOMENT. Plenty of good back-and-forth moments, but the best was when Mickelson was hitting his third shot from the fairway at the par-4 fifth while Tiger was already on the green. Mickelson asked Tiger to mark his ball. Tiger’s response: “You want me to use one of my U.S. Open medals?â€� Tiger opted not to mark and told Mickelson he’d give him the hole if Mickelson hit his ball. Phil nearly did, his shot bouncing just inches away. “Would’ve been a tasty one,â€� Mickelson smiled. MANNING AS GOLF ANNOUNCER? Networks televising NFL games have been trying to pull Peyton Manning into the broadcast booth ever since he retired following the 2015 season. But perhaps Manning’s true calling is as a golf announcer. After Mickelson missed a green with his approach shot, Manning astutely observed, “Pretty much a routine par for Phil. Might as well be in the leather.â€� What Manning may lack in long-time inside-the-ropes knowledge, he’d make up with his storytelling ability. And there would never be any dead air. JT AS ANNOUNCER. Just as Brady and Manning stepped out of their comfort zones by playing golf, Justin Thomas stepped out of his by grabbing a microphone and becoming an on-course analyst. Good insight from JT, who like Woods is a Medalist member. How can we convince him to spend his weeks off critiquing his peers? THAT MAGICAL NOLA CAP. Manning switched caps after a shaky start, putting on a cap honoring his hometown of New Orleans. He immediately started to play better, making a long putt to win the fourth hole and also won the sixth with a par for a net 3 with the handicap. He eventually switched to a Colorado cap. It wasn’t the only wardrobe change on the day. Brady went to his rain pants before a second squall hit the course after he split his golf slacks in the midst of his early struggles. BELICHICK THE CADDIE. Manning was asked whom he would use as his caddie if he didn’t have a cart. He suggested his brother Eli, then perhaps Nick Foles (the ultimate NFL QB caddie?), but finally settled on Bill Belichick, Brady’s former coach at New England to “see how that would’ve worked.â€� Brady was within earshot, of course. But then, as Manning remembered, “Bill brings out bad things for me.â€�

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