Pebble Beach Meets Its Match

As it turned out, Thursday was a historic opening day for the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. For the first time since 1992, there was no lift-clean-and-place rule in effect at any of the three courses.

That meant that Pebble Beach, Spyglass and Poppy Hills were in such good shape, the players weren’t permitted to wipe mud off their golf balls. And they didn’t need to. In fact, it was so sunny, the players should have been applying tanning lotion to their golf balls.

So for at least the first round, sunshine and Kevin Sutherland ruled.

Some quick Sutherland facts: He is 38, from Sacramento, and his brother David is also playing. He has won exactly once, but it was last year and that victory, in the match-play event at La Costa, was worth $1 million.

Sutherland, whose six-under-par 66 at Pebble Beach put him a shot ahead of Mike Weir and Robert Gamez, said he doubted that he was a good front-runner.

“Being that I have only won one tournament, and it was a match-play tournament, I would say I’m probably not a real good front-runner,” Sutherland said. “Being that I haven’t won a shot-play event.”

There was reason for some optimism. As Sutherland might say, being that if the weather can be good here, anything is possible.

Weir won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic last week and picked up right where he left off with his five-under 67 at Spyglass. Gamez signed for his 67 at Poppy Hills, where he aced the 179-yard 17th with a seven-iron, the first hole in one in his 13-year pro career.

In most years, Poppy Hills plays the easiest of the courses at this tournament because they’re almost always using winter rules that allow the players to clean their balls. Along the way, Poppy also acquired an unwanted nickname: Sloppy Hills.

“The ball was rolling out in the rough and a couple times it’s rolling a long way to the fairways,” Gamez said. “The greens were good. They’re pretty firm. The golf courses are going to play a little bit different than we’re used to seeing them.”

Tom Lehman heads a group of nine who opened with 68. The list also includes Ken Green, Marco Dawson, Greg Kraft, Donnie Hammond, Tommy Armour III, Willie Wood, Jason Caron and Phil Tataurangi.

Sutherland got off to a flying start and was four under after six holes. His only bogey was at the par-four 16th, where he had to hit out of a divot. Then he finished with a birdie at the bay-side 18th.

It was Sutherland’s 12th consecutive round at par or better, which illustrates what consistency will get you. Sutherland also serves as a reminder how crazy the money is on the PGA Tour.

In three starts this season, he tied for 12th at Kapalua, missed the cut at Phoenix and tied for 28th at the Hope. So even though he has no top-10 finishes and only one in the top 25, Sutherland has still made $136,275.

The match-play tournament is reserved for the top 64 players in the rankings and Sutherland is no sure thing at No. 61. On the other hand, he won last year when he squeaked into the field with a 62nd ranking. The $6-million tournament is set for Feb. 17.

“I just realized I need to play well to get in,” Sutherland said.

Then this would be a good place to start.

As for Gamez, he wants to follow up on his tie for third at Phoenix that earned him a check for $192,000. He switched to a belly putter last year at the Kemper and says it has made a huge difference.

“It’s gotten my stroke a lot better,” he said. “Now, for the most part, when I three-putt, it’s because the speed is bad. I pretty much hit my line every time now with my putts [and that’s the part] I always used to struggle with. It’s nice to get over a putt and feel like you’re going to make it.”

In the field of 179, 74 players were at par or better. But not everyone had a great day. Phil Mickelson, who didn’t arrive until Wednesday night, had a 72 at Poppy Hills. David Duval double-bogeyed the first hole at Pebble Beach and shot a two-over 74. Defending champion Matt Gogel got off to a bad start too, a 78 at Poppy Hills, where 18-year-old Ty Tryon had an 80.

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Leaderboard

*--* Greg Kraft...33-35--68b -4 Complete scores...D12 Scores from Thursday’s opening round at the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am played on three sites, all par 72 (b-Pebble Beach Golf Links, 6,816 yards; s-Spyglass Hill Golf Course, 6,858 yards; p-Poppy Hills Golf Course, 6,833 yards): Kevin Sutherland...31-35--66b -6 Mike Weir...34-33--67s -5 Robert Gamez...36-31--67p -5 Ken Green...34-34--68b -4 Donnie Hammond...35-33--68b -4 Jason Caron...34-34--68s -4 Tommy Armour III...33-35--68b -4 Tom Lehman...35-33--68p -4 Phil Tataurangi...36-32--68b -4 Willie Wood...34-34--68b -4 Marco Dawson...34-34--68b -4

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