Tiger Shoots for the Stars

Here at the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and surfing competition, golf fans know it’s best to keep one eye on all the celebrities, one eye on Tiger Woods and another eye on the weather.

What? That’s three eyes? Exactly. Now you realize how tough it is to keep up around here.

The latest, up-to-the-minute update: When this $4-million jaunt over some of the finest golfing real estate in the world begins, Jack Lemmon and Bill Murray are out, Woods is way in (even if he still doesn’t think his winning streak is a real winning streak) and the weather so far has been warm enough to toast sourdough.

What it all means: Lemmon had minor surgery, Murray didn’t want to play, the weather forecast calls for buckets of rain starting tonight and Woods says his confidence level is sort of high right now--probably because he has won the last five official tournaments he has played.

Said Woods: “Obviously, I have had a lot of success lately.”

Obviously. Anyway, the meteorologically challenged AT&T; is the second tournament of the year for Woods, who won the season-opening Mercedes Championships at Kapalua with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole . . . which followed a birdie on the first playoff hole, which followed an eagle on the last hole of regulation.

So, yes, it’s obvious Woods is playing well.

“He is doing some things that are better than the rest of us, and we have to try to figure out what that is,” Davis Love III said.

What Woods has done in his last five tournaments is simple: He has won them all, the best streak on the PGA Tour since Ben Hogan won six in a row in 1948.

Woods is chasing Byron Nelson’s 1945 record of 11 consecutive victories, although Woods says he doesn’t think he’s even in the race.

“To be honest with you, I still don’t really consider it six [if he wins this weekend] because it’s all over two seasons,” Woods said. “And people forget I played three tournaments between the two regular seasons [and] I won two out of three. I guess that counts for something, but I don’t know if it’s six or not.

“I’m just counting what I’ve won this year and I’m trying to win two in a row.”

The three tournaments Woods played--the Johnnie Walker in Taiwan, the World Cup in Malaysia and the PGA Grand Slam in Hawaii--are not official PGA Tour events, so they don’t count in the streak business.

The PGA Tour says the streak is five, so that’s the official verdict, no matter what anybody says.

The AT&T; is well known for the celebrities in the field, and that has been true since Bing Crosby began the tournament in 1937 at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club. Woods, who has played with Kevin Costner before, was supposed to have been paired this week with Michael Jordan, but Jordan got booked up when he got busy after moving into the front office of the Washington Wizards.

Instead of Jordan, Woods will play with former Stanford teammate Jerry Chang, who was Woods’ roommate on the road when Woods was a sophomore. Chang is interested in attending business schools and Woods feels his low-key partner may help steer him through a potentially frenzied atmosphere out on the course.

“He won’t get in the way, he won’t be chit-chattering and talking,” Woods said. “He will be serious. He wants to play. That’s something that’s nice and refreshing.”

This will be the second tournament of the year featuring the top two ranked players in the world, Woods and No. 2 David Duval. At the Mercedes, Duval was third behind Woods and Ernie Els, who lost to Woods in the playoff despite making an eagle on the 72nd hole.

The tournament is played at three courses: Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, and Poppy Hills. The pros play one round at each of the three courses, a cut is made after 54 holes, and Sunday’s final round is played at Pebble Beach. The tournament has been rain-shortened the last two years and was canceled in 1996 because of the weather.

Since the weather forecast looks grim for the weekend, the AT&T; is taking the unusual step of playing lift, clean and place beginning with today’s first round when it’s supposed to be sunny. They are just getting ready for the rain that is on its way.

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The Facts

* What: AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

* Where: Pebble Beach, Calif.

* When: Today-Sunday.

* Courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links (6,816 yards, par 72), Spyglass Hill Golf Club (6,855 yards, par 72), Poppy Hills Golf Club (6,833 yards, par 72).

* Purse: $4 million (winner’s share: $720,000).

* TV: USA (Today-Friday, 3-6 p.m., delayed); Ch. 2 (Saturday-Sunday, noon-3 p.m.)

* 1999 champion: Payne Stewart.