It was a golf tournament for 63 holes.  The leaderboard shifted to and fro continuously with as many as 10 players in contention.  The field endured all types of weather including rain, cold, significant wind in a very haphazard fashion.  Rory McIlroy was one of these competitors who had played consistently well for those 63 holes and then as conditions turned benign with bright sunshine–McIlroy lapped the field with a blistering back nine to cruise to victory.  I believe the gods of golf were finally smiling on Rory especially as he made a hole-in-one on the 15th hole on Day 1 of the tournament at Spyglass Hill.  In addition, at Pebble Beach, he had just made back to back bogeys to drop to 6 under par and it looked like this was going to be another opportunity missed.  Instead McIlroy holed his bunker shot on 18 for an eagle to take him to 8 under par and back in the thick of the leaderboard.  McIlroy would not make another mistake and would harness the power in his driver to close things out.  With a two shot lead in the final round, McIlroy unleashed an astonishing drive on the 14th hole taking on the trees that flank the right side of the fairway.  The 14th is one of the hardest holes on the PGA Tour and taking this route to the hole was a positive feeling that McIlroy could reach the green in two.  This was a bold move that McIlroy felt was worth taking and he busted the ball over 340 yards.  With a shot of over 200 yards left to reach this elevated green, McIlroy choose a 7 iron and executed the shot perfectly to the green, made the putt for an eagle and vaulted into a 4 shot lead, which essentially closed things out.  Seth Straka could only smile as he was in a similar position as McIlroy,  but needed a seven wood to try and reach the green.  Straka also played well in this tournament and was the leader going into the final round.  A few errant shots and some missed short putts cost Straka dearly as he finished seventh.  McIlroy floated to the victory circle as he decided to hit a 5 iron off the 18th tee and begin his triumphant march to the Waterford glass trophy presentation for his victory.  For McIlroy, it was a culmination of finally playing up to his level of capability without making mistakes.  He is the longest driver on the PGA Tour but has had too many lapses in his short game and his putting to dominate the competition.  His drought on not winning a major with significant lapses in the Open Championship and the US Open were opportunities lost but with performances like this one, he will be a favorite to don a green jacket this coming April.

The tournament was a great success in terms of the golf competition as a PGA Tour signature event for the second year.  Last year’s event was washed out in three rounds and Wyndam Clark broke the course record shooting 60, fantastic for him, but forgettable for the Tour fan.  The Pro-Am portion of this event has been reduced to a small field of no name business oligarchs as the antics of Bill Murray, Larry the Cable Guy,, Ray Romano and other celebrities are no longer welcome here.  Event organizers  fail to realize or admit that drawing a  significant number of non-golfers looking to take a peek at these celebrities drives attendance.  I could find no mention or publication  of the pro/am competition other than an occasional congratulations to the winners.  Bing Crosby would not have approved but this is the state of professional golf in 2025–money talks and entertainment walks.  Shopkeepers in Carmel and Monterey were disappointed as low attendance at the AT&T meant little shopping downtown as those non golfers who used to spend the day in the area stayed home.

The golf was exciting and played in all types of conditions.  The third round was telling as the day started with tepid temperatures, little to no wind and wet conditions.  These conditions would render Pebble defenseless to these guys as it seemed that the entire field was making birdie on the first hole.  One of the funnier moments was Tom Kim hitting a worm-burner off the first tee about 160 yards.  It was pretty embarrassing but Kim would have the last laugh.  His shot to the green was 169 yards and he ended up in the spinachy rough to the right of the hole and then he casually chipped in the next shot to join the birdie fest on 1 in a highly unusual fashion.  By the time the field made its way to the 6th hole, the birdie fest conditions went from benign to horrendous with high winds and rain.  At this point, par became the standard with shots flying all over the place.  McIlroy wrested the lead from Straka as Straka was missing short putts and fell 3 shots off the pace.  The field bunched up and then conditions eased up at the 11th hole enabling the players to resume attacking the pins.  Straka came back with a strong back nine to get to 16 under and lead McIlroy and Shane Lowry at 15 under to set things up for a fun final exam on Sunday.

Trajectory of McIlroy’s tee shot on the 14th hole

The tournament also displayed an unusual number of fabulous shots.  There were two hole-in-ones recorded.  McIlroy slam dunked his tee shot on the short 15th at Spylass Hill and Shane Lowry bounced another one on the iconic 7th hole at Pebble.  While those shots were wonderful, the most outrageous shot was executed by Cameron Davis on the 18th at Pebble (his 72nd hole of the tournament).  Davis’ second shot nestled into the exposed roots of the cypress tree that guards the green on the 18th hole.  The ball rested on the exposed roots and it looked not only impossible to hit but you would have to consider that you could hurt yourself hitting a ball in this position.  Davis pondered his situation thoroughly as this shot could have gone anywhere; instead he clipped the ball within a foot for an improbable birdie, and what was even eerier was the backspin on the ball as it careened back towards the hole.  After the crowd gasped in disbelief with TV commentators marveling at this unlikely outcome, Justin Rose stepped up to his chip shot off the green with a wooden club and holed the next shot into the hole for consecutive eagle chips.  Those chips were very profitable as they both vaulted up the tight leaderboard.  Rose vaulted to third place and Davis tied for fifth.  You are not going to see a much better competition in professional golf than this year’s AT&T–it’s just a shame that the tournament has lost it’s charm on the Monterey Peninsula as Bing Crosby’s memory fades away.  Perhaps the tournament needs a new name dropping the “AM” part and just becoming the “The Gathering at Pebble Beach.” (sponsored by …….)

Cam Davis chipping from the roots of the cypress tree on 18