At Pebble Beach, It’s Always Weather or Not

It was 40 years ago at this tournament, when it was called the Bing Crosby National, that snow, hail, rain and sleet stopped play on the last day.

So there were something like gusts of nostalgia blowing stiffly through the Del Monte Forest on Monday when it snowed and hailed, thus signaling the official start of tournament week at the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Defending champion Davis Love III can easily recall the worst weather he has experienced around here.

“Yesterday,” Love said Tuesday, wrapped up snugly in a blue windbreaker. “It hailed on us twice.”

Chances are, it’s going to be good weather for the rest of the week, but tell that to Tiger Woods, who defrosted his clubs so he could play nine practice holes early at Spyglass Hill and then quit because of flu-like symptoms.

The weather forecast actually looks surprisingly encouraging through the weekend, which would be nice for everyone concerned, including Peter Jacobsen.

The 1995 champion, Jacobsen managed to hold the title for two years, basically because there was no tournament in 1996 because rain allowed only two rounds to be played. It would have been the same in 1998, but Phil Mickelson triumphed when the rain-delayed final round was played in late August.

For his lunch Tuesday, Jacobsen took refuge at a covered picnic table outside the front door of a deli near the Lodge at Pebble Beach.

Said Jacobsen: “Not only do I know what to eat, more importantly, I know where to eat.”

Love recalled the 1990 tournament when gusts of 40 mph kept blowing the flagsticks out of the holes at Cypress Point and play was suspended with eight pros still on the course. Presumably, they all made it back in alive.

Love says he’s used to it all by now, thanks to experience and filling his bag with foul weather gear. “We’ve played wet and sloppy and rainy,” he said.

Now we’re going to see if they can play it differently. The huge pine tree in the middle of the 18th fairway is no longer around. It was recently cut down.

The tree’s gone, but Love’s back on the one-year anniversary of what can only be called an unexpected championship.

Love started the last round seven shots behind Mickelson and Olin Browne, tied with five others for 14th place. But Love got it going, and in a hurry. He needed only 20 shots to play the first seven holes, including holing a wedge from 108 yards for an eagle on the second hole at Pebble. Love shot a 28 on the front nine and was eight under par through seven holes, tying the best birdie-eagle streak in PGA Tour history.

Love finished one under on the back, signed for a nine-under 63, then waited 45 minutes to see if anybody could catch him. Mickelson came close. He birdied the 16th and 17th and needed to birdie the closing hole to force a playoff, but when he gambled on reaching the green at 18 with two drivers, his second one went into the water.

Vijay Singh was gone when he hit his tee shot into the ocean at the 17th. Love wound up with a one-shot victory over Singh, with Mickelson two shots back.

Before the round began, Love said he saw no reason to count himself out, especially because Woods had come back from seven shots down with seven holes to go and won the year before.

“You never know what one day or one round or one shot is going to mean to you,” said Love, who turns 38 in April. “So I always try to turn it into a positive and I was trying to convince myself that I had a chance to win. ... I just got off to a great start, obviously a great start, and just kept it going.”

The next week at Torrey Pines, Love tied for second, losing with Frank Lickliter in a playoff with Mickelson. And two weeks later at the Nissan Open, Love led by three shots after 54 holes only to falter with a 75 on Sunday and fall to a tie for eighth.

That was still enough for Love to pick up the $500,000 bonus for being the best player on the West Coast Swing. He finished the year No. 5 on the money list with $3.169 million--the best of his 16-year career.

Last week at the Phoenix Open, Love went eagle-birdie to make the cut, then shot six under on the weekend and wound up earning $24,933. As he says, you never know what that one round is going to mean to you.

Maybe this week, there will be some more clues ... weather permitting, of course.

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Pebble Beach

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

When: Thursday-Sunday.

Where: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Club and Poppy Hill Golf Club.

TV: Thursday-Friday, USA Network, noon-3 p.m.; Saturday, Channel 2, noon-3 p.m.; Sunday, Channel 2, noon-3:30 p.m.