Can former No. 1s Rory McIlroy and Jason Day recapture their form and chase down the likes of No. 1 Dustin Johnson, No. 2 Jon Rahm and No. 3 Jordan Spieth? We’ll see this week, with all five competing in the field.
And can Tony Romo — an NFL All-Pro who maintained a scratch handicap — compete on the PGA TOUR? He’ll get a taste of that life this week before diving into the deep end on his own next month.
These questions and more caught our attention Wednesday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am:
1. ARE WE SURE THE OPENING FOR ‘THE SOUND OF MUSIC’ WASN’T FILMED ON THE EIGHTH HOLE AT PEBBLE BEACH?
Don’t spoil the fun for country music star (and stud amateur golfer) Colt Ford. His reenactment (turn your sound on) is moving. The wildflowers lining the bluffs of No. 8 have made the iconic hole even more photogenic this week.
2. SPYGLASS HILL IS STACKED WITH MARQUEE GROUPS THURSDAY.
We’re in for a fun week.@DJohnsonPGA, @WayneGretzky, @JordanSpieth, @JakeOwen
All @attproam Featured Groups (Rory and more): https://t.co/BKRu9QGiQc pic.twitter.com/jWn1PuQFFT
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 7, 2018
The A-Listers tee off at Spyglass Hill on Thursday, before rotating to Monterey Peninsula Country Club on Friday, and Pebble Beach on Saturday. Those A-Listers include:
- Late commit Steve Young (14-handicap) playing with Alex Smith (8)
- Aaron Rodgers (9) playing with Larry Fiztgerald (13)
- Country music stars Colt Ford (4) and Toby Keith (14) partnered together
- The power quartet of Dustin Johnson and father-in-law Wayne Gretzky (9) playing with Jordan Spieth and Jake Owen (2)
- Larry the Cable Guy (15) playing with Ray Romano (17)
- Bill Murray (15) playing with Darius Rucker (8)
- Justin Verlander (4) playing with Houston Astros owner Jim Crane (2)
On the pro side, Phil Mickelson has a Ryder Cup-like showdown with Rory McIlory, and Brandt Snedeker is paired with Matt Kuchar.
3. TONY ROMO IS AN AMATEUR THIS WEEK, BUT HE’LL BE PLAYING AGAINST THE PROS SOON.
Recently retired Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current lead CBS commentator Tony Romo owns the lowest amateur handicap in the field this week at 0. He won’t be getting any strokes next month either when he tees it up during an official PGA TOUR event in the Dominican Republic as a sponsor’s exemption.
“You never know how good you are until you go play and perform,” Romo said. “Obviously the odds going against these guys are not great. But I think that’s what makes it really fun and enjoyable. The challenge that is presented is what a competitor really wants.”
Jordan Spieth plays with Romo regularly, and called the all-pro quarterback’s hand-eye coordination “really special.” The defending champ Spieth also shoveled a little pressure onto Romo by adding, “He thinks he can win this golf tournament if he played it with us.”
4. ‘HE HAS THE TOOLS TO BE TIGERESQUE’
That was former world No. 1 Jason Day talking about former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy. Both players dipped outside the top 10 in the world rankings over the last year, but are trending up with top-3 finishes in the last month. And both No. 8 McIlroy and No. 10 Day are motivated to rebound this week.
Said Day: “I dislike losing. We’re in a sport where you lose 99 percent of the time. It’s a hard sport to win all the time at. But if I had to think about why I want to do this, I love the game so much. I love improving. I love the process of improving.”
Added McIlroy: “I want to be one of the best players to ever have played the game. I think I have a great window of opportunity over the next 10-12 years to play great golf and to leave my mark on the game.”
McIlroy is also playing with his father Gerry (a 5 handicap) this week.
“It’s a tournament I’ve always watched and thought it would be really cool to play with my dad,” McIlroy said. “First thing is to try and make the cut so he can play on Sunday. But it’s going to be a great week.”
5. PEBBLE BEACH HAS BEEN GORGEOUS AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY THIS WEEK.
One more day until it counts!