ATT at Pebble just days away

Next week at Pebble Beach the ATT National Pro-Am begins. When the top pros, celebrities and well healed amateurs converge on the Monterey Peninsula for practice rounds on Monday, the fans will begin to flock. While Bill Murray will be in England working on a movie, other celebrities will fill the void. George Lopez who seems to prefer Murray absent will be testing out his antics on the course. Other stars like Kevin Costner, surfer Kelly Slater, Dan Marino, Kenny G. and Andy Garcia are a few of the famed celeb field. Tiger Woods is absent again, having won the Buick again last week in San Diego, but coming back is the great white shark Greg Norman from Australia and defending champ Phil Michelson. There always seems to be a tour school grad making a splash having earned his PGA tour card, and no doubt someone of the Nationwide tour will make some noise. Over the years, the Crosby/ATT has donated over $66 million to local charities. We will be there through the week with reports and streaming video of interviews and the sights from Golf's most attractive non-major at Pebble Beach.

Bob Murphy on Payne Stewart

Murph makes people laugh. The longtime Pebble Beach Pro-Am MC for the Golf Writers dinner and on course special events loves to roast people and poke fun at everything. He also has a sensitive side. Bob Murphy, a fellow Santa Cruz resident and former AD and Stanford sports announcer recalls a moment with fellow funny man and PGA player Peter Jacobson after the tragic death of Payne Stewart, a former ATT winner and one of the most charismatic characters ever on the PGA tour. The memory was shared at Monday's press conference for the upcoming tournament which begins February 7th. Despite audio difficulties, defending champ Phil Michelson made an appearance via conference call. Lefty had just returned home from a family ski trip at Aspen and could not make it to Palo Alto in person to meet the press at Stanford. Phil spoke of his love for the event, his grandfather's time in Monterey and preperation to defend his title. The 3 time ATT winner can tie Mark O'Meara for all time win record at this tournament. A strong field will challenge, but Tiger Woods once again has decided not to play. On the celebrity side, the biggest attraction is 50:50 at best. Actor Bill Murray, who always make front page news with his antics has movie making obligations and as yet has not confirmed.