Surviving a Wet First Round: The Best From Thursday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

The good news? The worst is over. Players and fans battled 30 mph winds and sideways rain during the opening round of the Pebble Beach AT&T Pro-Am. Almost half the field finished, while the rest will tidy up their first round tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. Light rain is expected early Friday morning, before the skies clear up for a sunny weekend.

And now, here’s the best from today’s first round:

1. NICK FALDO JOINED THE DAN PATRICK SHOW FOR SOME EARLY MORNING NIGHT GOLF

Nick Faldo almost hits our AT&T box at Pebble. #attproam

A video posted by Andrew Perloff (@andrewperloff) on


Golf-loving Dan Patrick and the Danettes hosted their morning show live from the Pebble Beach Golf Academy, and three-time British Open Champion Nick Faldo showed them (impressively) how to control your ball in the wind.

2. IT WAS A PRETTY MORNING — UNTIL THE WEATHER TURNED TOUGH AROUND 11:30 A.M.

Tee times were bumped up an hour to get more golf in before an expected storm, which made for a beautiful view of the sunrise for players up early on the practice range.

3. DUSTIN JOHNSON COULDN’T REACH A PAR-5 — IN 3

How hard was it howling? Dustin Johnson is second on the PGA TOUR in driving distance at 318.7 yards a blast. A driver, followed by a 3-wood and 4-iron finished short of the green. (That’s probably 800 yards worth of club on the 599-yard hole.) The two-time AT&T winner is 1-under through 16 holes at Monterey Peninsula Country Club.

4. PHIL MICKELSON HAD A ROLLER-COASTER ROUND…


Four-time AT&T winner Phil Mickelson had a very Phil Mickelson day. He rattled off four straight birdies on the front nine — including that holed-out bunker shot for birdie on the par-5 No. 6 at MPCC. But after a double-bogey on No. 13 he plummeted to 1-over, before making birdies on two of his next three holes to climb back to 1-under. Play was suspended with Mickelson on the 18th hole.

…AND ARNOLD PALMER WAS ALONG FOR THE RIDE

5. TO USE AN UMBRELLA, OR NOT USE AN UMBRELLA?

#justintimberlake

A photo posted by Alex G (@gerainchick) on

If you used one, you needed a caddie to tell you where to walk.

6. LARRY THE CABLE GUY TELLS YOU WHAT’S IN HIS BAG — BESIDES WATER

What’s in Larry the Cable Guy’s golf bag?

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Of course his wedges have ‘Git ‘er Done’ stamped on them.

7. SO, WHO’S IN THE LEAD? THE GUYS WHO TEED OFF EARLY AT SPYGLASS HILL 


Rick Lamb and pro playing partner Seung-Yul Noh took advantage of soft conditions, posting matching 4-under 68s in their 7 a.m. group. Spyglass Hill is notoriously the toughest course in the rotation, but it’s also the most sheltered, and early-risers Lamb and Noh combined to make nine birdies and just one bogey. Joel Dahmen teed off at 7:33 a.m. and also fired a 68, pouring in seven birdies to offset three bogeys. “We might have caught a break today being up here in the trees,” Dahmen admitted.

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8. DAHMEN WAS RIGHT: SPYGLASS HILL WAS THE EASIEST COURSE

Number 1 Spy

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Spyglass Hill was still very tough: the par-72 layout played to a stroke average of 73.236. The sixth hole has consistently been one of the toughest par-4s on the PGA TOUR, and it yielded just one birdie on Thursday. But the more exposed MPCC played 1.484 strokes over par, while Pebble Beach — the shortest course on the PGA TOUR — registered a scoring average of 74.463.

9. THE NINTH HOLE AT PEBBLE BEACH WAS IMPOSSIBLE

Not the prettiest of days but still the prettiest of views ?

A photo posted by Hissalot (@hissalot) on


Only two of 40 players managed to hit the 466-yard ninth hole in regulation, which played to a scoring average of 4.775. Drives were averaging just 243.5 yards off the tee, which meant that pros were left with 220-plus yards into the wind for their second shots.

10. WE CAN ALL RELATE TO J.J. HENRY TODAY

jj-henry

J.J. Henry is a three-time PGA TOUR winner. He played on the 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup team. But Thursday at Pebble Beach was not a fun round for him. Henry started on the back nine today and shot 3-over 39. He then posted a 9-over 45 of the front nine, making it through the rest of his round without recording a par.


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