MPCC hosts media day with defending champ Dustin Johnson

Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill will once again be joined by MPCC and it's spectacular Shore course for the upcoming AT&T Pro-am. Today, media assembled along with 2-time defending champion Dustin Johnson for a press conference and a round of golf. The surf was pumping as viewed from 14 or the 18 holes adjacent to the Pacific, and the wildlife teamed with the environment. Poppy Hills was replaced by MPCC as the 3rd course played for the tournament last year, and now looks to be a permanent venue, as the pros and amateurs tee it up for the first 3 rounds. Not particularly long at 6,914 yards, the layout is eye candy, much like famed Pebble Beach itself. For 20 years, MPCC hosted the Bing Crosby Clambake, but returns again with AT@T the title sponsor. Most of the World's top pros, excluding Tiger Woods have committed to play when the event officially begins Thursday February 10th. A few new celebrities join the field that features many of CBS TV stars, but golf fans and star seekers will be happy to know Bill Murray is back, and so is Oscar de la Hoya who was a a big hit in his first AT@T 5 years back. The Hall of Fame boxer is now retired and is president of Golden Boy promotions. Surfing super star Kelly Slater returns, and making his first start in the field, is San Francisco Giant ace Matt Cain. Otherwise the celebrity field remains pretty much the same, with female soccer star Brandi Chastain, the lone female in the field of 156 pros and amateurs. Last year, the AT@T raised over $7million for local charities. $6.3 million will be up for grabs for the pros..as Dustin Johnson seeks his third straight Pebble Beach Championship

Dustin Johnson goes for a 3peat at Pebble

Long hitting 4 time PGA tour winner Dustin Johnson is looking to 3-peat at Pebble Beach. With the AT@T a few weeks away, the two-time defending Champion will attempt what Mark O'Meara, Tom Watson, and Jack Nicklaus could not...win the tournament 3 years in a row. His wire to wire win last year placed Johnson with iconic company, and he was in position this past summer to win again at the famed links. Dustin led the U.S. Open with a 4 shot cushion entering the final round at Pebble Beach, but quickly fell back in the pack after a horrendous start. His tempo changed on that fateful final round, and although a devastating memory, Dustin Johnson will use his collapse as a positive if in that same situation. The sting on letting his first major win get away at Pebble, and his near miss in the PGA Championship has positioned the 26 year old Carolinian as perhaps the brightest young star on the PGA Tour. His unintentional grounding of his club in a trampled sand trap cost him the PGA, suffering a 2 stroke penalty on the final hole, may have been more painful than his nightmare early at the U.S. Open's final round.