Playing at Pebble Beach Is a No-Wind Situation

So how windy was it Saturday at Pebble Beach? Golf balls traveled sideways, Andy Garcia played in a beret he must have borrowed from Monica Lewinsky, Jack Lemmon nearly blew over on the 17th tee and the only sensible game plan was the one Frank Lickliter came up with for today’s last round of the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

“Play just one shot at a time and try to keep it on the planet,” he said.

Just make sure it’s this planet. There was only a little rain, but a whole lot of wind for the third round of the meteorologically challenged tournament, especially at the Pebble Beach layout, where winds of nearly 50 mph meant that each airborne golf ball had dimpled disaster written all over it.

After 54 holes, your leader by one shot is Payne Stewart, who birdied two of the last three holes at Spyglass to finish off a one-over-par round of 73 worth a three-round total of 10-under 206.

Stewart was wet and muddy but happy to be in a dry place afterward.

“It was tough,” Stewart said. “But I knew it was going to be a difficult day.

“I know I’m glad I wasn’t at Pebble today. Those holes on the ocean would have been vicious.”

Well, yes, Payne, they were. Meanwhile, alone in second, is Lickliter, a 28-year-old non-winner from Ohio, where winds that blow this hard are usually called tornadoes.

Lickliter turned in a 71 at Spyglass, which is a lot easier to play in the wind because its trees block a lot of the gusts.

When he finally completed his round, Lickliter expressed his great pleasure.

“I’m just glad I’m out of the wind,” he said. “I tell you what, it’s brutal out there.”

Nowhere was it more brutal than at Pebble, which is laid out along the water and there’s basically nothing to protect it from the wind except a couple of sea gulls.

Pebble Beach played an average of seven shots higher in the third round (79.2) than it did the first two days (72.2), while Spyglass and Poppy Hills averaged only about 1 1/2 shots higher Saturday--meaning that playing the third round at Pebble was about a 5 1/2-shot disadvantage.

There isn’t one player in the top 13 who played his third round at Pebble Beach.

Only one player managed to break par at Pebble--Brad Faxon had a 71.

On the other hand, 32 of the 60 pros who played Pebble Beach shot at least 80.

Among the most abject sufferers were Jay Delsing, who made a 10 on No. 18 on his way to a 13-over 85, and Kirk Triplett, who was eight over on his last nine holes in his round of 80.

Yet that wasn’t quite as impressive as Wayne Levi, who had only one three on his card, wrote down 44 on each side and added up the thing to an 88.

Clearly, the day to play Pebble Beach was either Thursday or Friday, when it was sunny and mostly calm, as compared to the conditions on Saturday, when it was as difficult as finding a parking place in Carmel.

“I can’t imagine how hard it played at Pebble today,” Lickliter said. “I just feel like I had a little bit of an advantage with the draw.”

Others, such as David Duval, didn’t have that advantage.

Take Duval’s third round. Please. Duval finished with a 76 at Pebble Beach, but he knew he was in for trouble a lot earlier.

“We stood on the first tee and I saw the flags on those houses standing sideways,” he said. “This is the type of day as a professional you don’t want for the sole reason that luck becomes a big factor. It’s conceivable you could play well and shoot 80.

“I can think of better things to do on a day like this.”

And so could Tiger Woods, who finished with a 78, but still made the cut at three-over 219.

Lickliter had four birdies and three bogeys in his round, but more important, he managed to survive. Consider how he played the 351-yard No. 2 at Spyglass because of the wind--three-wood and six-iron from 140 yards. Normally, it’s a two-iron and wedge to the green.

If Lickliter owned any gloves, he said he would have been wearing them between shots. As it was, there was only one way to describe how he felt on the course.

“Cold,” Lickliter said.

Not to mention wet and windy. Looking ahead, the forecast for today is for rain, but at least everyone plays at Pebble. And you know what that means.

Everybody is at the same disadvantage.

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Leaders

Payne Stewart: 69-64-73--206

Frank Lickliter: 68-68-71--207

Craig Stadler: 70-67-72--209

Four tied at 210