The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am had nasty weather, Phil missing putts, Dustin Johnson making a Sunday charge and Clint Eastwood made someone’s day.
Oh yeah, Jimmy Walker won his third title in just eight starts this season.
Eastwood is a former mayor of nearby Carmel, CA and a longtime supporter of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He was attending a dinner function on Wednesday evening prior to the start of the tournament when he noticed that AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Tournament Director, Steve John was choking on some food.
Eastwood immediately performed the Heimlich maneuver on his dining companion and dislodged a piece of cheese that had become stuck in John’s throat.
I guess you could say that, Eastwood made John’s day.
The weather turned cold and rainy from the outset of the tournament and caused delays. The beautiful views of the Monterey Peninsula were still on display and that little bit of rain didn’t look too bad to the rest of the country stuck in their houses watching temperatures plummet and the snow accumulate.
Country music artist, Jake Owen was teamed with 2013 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, Jordan Spieth.
Owen found time to play Monterey Peninsula Country Club on Friday, fly to San Antonio for a concert commitment Friday night and still make his 10:01 AM tee time on Saturday back at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Neither Spieth nor Owen played well, but Owen should get an award for “Most Dedicated Golfer.”
Jim Renner was ranked No. 362 in the world and had not made a cut in his first four starts this season at the start of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
He posted a superb five-under par 67 on Sunday and finished tied with Dustin Johnson for runner-up. The $580,000 second-place check should look good on his bank statement.
Phil Mickelson was the highest ranked golfer in the field at Pebble Beach this week.
He started off with a solid six-under par 66 on Thursday to put himself among the leaders, but poor rounds on Friday and Saturday left him eight shots behind the leader after 54 holes.
His putter refused to perform on Sunday and his two-over par 74 left him far down the leaderboard.
Dustin Johnson teamed with his future father-in-law, “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky, and put on a Sunday charge, posting a six-under par 66 that included three bogeys.
He used his prodigious length off the tee and accurate iron shots to overpower Pebble Beach.
With Walker faltering down the stretch, it appeared Johnson may force a playoff.
Walker began Sunday with a six-shot lead and needed all of it to collect his third win of the 2013-14 season.
Needing a six-foot putt at the final hole on Sunday to seal the deal, he rolled it in and left Johnson and Renner to tie for runner-up.
Walker leads the FedEx Cup points race by a wide margin and with $3.6 million in total earnings is also leading the money list.
He is No. 1 on the Ryder Cup points list and is nearly a lock to make Captain Tom Watson’s team this fall.
Walker also joins a fairly exclusive list of players to have won three events this early in the season. Tiger Woods has accomplished the feat several times, Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Gary Player are also on the short list.
That is pretty heady stuff for a guy that took 188 tournaments to win his first title.
The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am did not fail to satisfy golf fans once again.
It always delivers the goods and is probably a bit more than even Bing Crosby envisioned in 1937.