There’s Change in Air at Pebble

It’s so hard keeping track of this AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. For instance, two unusual events happened Tuesday. The sun showed up and Jack Nicklaus didn’t.

Weather is nearly always a factor at the tournament, which has been under water enough times that some greens have bathtub ring. Five times in the last six years, rain has washed out at least one round. In 1996, it was canceled altogether. In 1998, the last round was played six months after the third round, in August.

Mark Calcavecchia, who won last week in Phoenix when bad weather pushed the completion of the third round into Sunday, clearly knows how to battle the elements. He even appreciates them.

“You know, you wouldn’t really want to play golf every week or every day in perfect conditions because that would actually get boring,” he said.

“It’s nice to face adversity.”

In addition to the notorious bad weather associated with this place, there always has been one other thing you could count on--Nicklaus playing.

But for the first time since 1979--and for only the second time since 1962--Nicklaus isn’t here. At 61, he is cutting back his schedule, no matter what history he has to let go.

Of course, what matters even more is that Tiger Woods is playing. Last year, he came from seven shots down at Pebble Beach with seven holes to play and won for his sixth consecutive tournament victory.

He went on to win nine times on tour last year, including three majors. In fact, he has won four of the last five majors, dating to the 1999 PGA Championship. He missed only in the Masters, in which he was fifth.

When the AT&T; begins dialing in Thursday for the first round, 12 of the top 15 players from last year’s money list will be in the field. That isn’t going to make it any easier for Woods, who has failed to win his last five PGA Tour events. Last week at Phoenix, someone actually asked Woods about his “slump.”

Woods is playing with Jerry Chang, his former Stanford teammate, in a foursome with Mark O’Meara and Ken Griffey Jr.

Celebrities are an important part of this tournament, dating to when Bing Crosby began the event with a bunch of golfing buddies and called it a “clambake.” There are still a lot of clams here; the prize money is $4 million.

Mikhail Baryshnikov is playing for the first time, which should be interesting, if only to see his jete when he makes a birdie. Bill Murray is back after a year’s absence. During his practice round Tuesday, he wore a full beard, a bush hat, two sweaters, shorts and brown socks.

Other celebrities include Kevin Costner, Andy Garcia, Rush Limbaugh, Ray Romano, Bill Russell, Reggie Jackson, Peter Ueberroth, Roger Clemens and Donald Trump. However, Jack Lemmon is sitting this one out. Lemmon, who turns 76 next week, has played this tournament 26 times and missed the cut every year.

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The Facts

* Site: Pebble Beach

* Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

* Courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links (6,846 yards, par 72), Spyglass Hill Golf Course (6,859 yards, par 72) and Poppy Hills Golf Course (6,861 yards, par 72).

* Purse: $4 million. Winner’s share: $720,000.

* Television: USA (Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m., delayed) and CBS (Saturday, noon-3 p.m.; Sunday, noon-3:30 p.m.).

* Last year: Tiger Woods became the first player since Ben Hogan in 1948 to win six consecutive tour events, overcoming a seven-stroke deficit with seven holes to play for a two-stroke victory.

* On the Net: https://www.pgatour.com