Monday, June 21st, 2010Global Golf Post: Pebble Beach Revealed as Beauty AND BeastBy Art Spander PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA — It’s a near-lethal combination, the U.S. Open and Pebble Beach, a tournament which can ruin your mind and wrench your wrists, and a course where the sun rarely shines and the putts hardly fall. Copyright 2010 Global Golf Post |
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Monday, June 21st, 2010SF Examiner: McDowell the last man standingBy Art Spander PEBBLE BEACH — The winner, of course, was the course, Pebble Beach. Graeme McDowell was the champion, the guy who finished first, but it was Pebble — tough, mystical Pebble — that proved the winner. Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company |
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Monday, June 21st, 2010SF Examiner: Woods misses opportunity to steal US Open winBy Art Spander PEBBLE BEACH — They’ll look at what happened to star-crossed Dustin Johnson, how he fell apart the first few holes, mentally as much as physically, and tossed the U.S. Open over the cliff into Carmel Bay with a final-round 82. And certainly that was true. Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company |
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Sunday, June 20th, 2010Newsday (N.Y.): Alluring Pebble proves bedeviling courseBy Art Spander PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — It’s the signature hole of Pebble Beach, a par-3 that pokes into Carmel Bay beguiles golfers with its beauty and sometimes baffles them its demands. You can putt onto the green from the tee, as did Sam Snead once, or you can be forced to use a 3-iron if the wind is in your face. “How on Earth,” mused Ian Poulter out loud as he walked to the 109-yard seventh Saturday, “are you supposed to play to that?” Very carefully. Very tactically. As virtually every hole at Pebble, site of a U.S. Open for the fifth time. Especially the holes, such as the seventh, which are on the bluffs above the central California coast. There’s nothing quite like Pebble. Poulter managed a bogey 4 on the seventh Saturday. The biggest problem is the view. The player stands on the tee, looking at the surf crashing or maybe the Santa Lucia Mountains and sometimes loses concentration, not to mention an occasionally errant golf ball. Pebble is like that. There’s beauty everywhere. There’s trouble everywhere. David Duval, who did so well in last year’s Open at Bethpage, shot 31 on the front nine Saturday. He was a contender. Then he had a 7-over-par 43 on the back. And how about Mike Weir? The opening round, he was among the leaders with a 1-under 70. After Saturday, he was among the bottom-dwellers, having shot a 12-over 83, despite an eagle 2 on the short fourth. Of course, he also had three double-bogeys. Someone nicknamed Pebble “Double-Bogey-by-the-Sea,” and the description is not inaccurate. Tons of those, and on the par-5 14th hole, numerous triple-bogeys. Friday on 14, which doesn’t come close to the water, Zach Johnson destroyed his round with a quadruple-bogey 9. “It’s a beautiful, great course,” insisted Poulter, the Englishman. How do you do play it? As well as you can. http://www.newsday.com/sports/golf/alluring-pebble-proves-bedeviling-course-1.2037865 |
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Sunday, June 20th, 2010SF Examiner: Watson sentimental, satisfied at OpenBy Art Spander Surely today will be the last dance for Tom Watson, his final round in a U.S. Open, the tournament that to him is the most important of any, this time being played on the course that to him is the most important of them all. “If this is my last U.S. Open,” said Watson, “it couldn’t have happened at a better place, Pebble Beach. I’m somewhat sentimental about this place. There’s a lot to this place for me. It means a great deal to play the U.S. Open, but especially at Pebble Beach.” Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company |
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Saturday, June 19th, 2010SF Examiner: Leaderboard all over the map at a truly open OpenBy Art Spander PEBBLE BEACH – We should have known it would be like this. Should have foreseen another U.S. Open at Pebble Beach would produce everything from eagles to quadruple-bogeys, would give us a leader board of the famous and the anxious, would be, well, very Open. Halfway through this 110th Open, this fifth at Pebble, Graeme McDowell is leading, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson are lurking, and 60-year-old Tom Watson is playing. You can’t ask for much more. Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company |
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Friday, June 18th, 2010RealClearSports: Different Tiger? By Nine StrokesBy Art Spander PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — He said it was different, and it certainly was. Ten years different. Nine strokes different. “Now what are we to get from Tiger Woods?” different. Tiger owned Pebble Beach, figuratively speaking, 10 years ago. Tiger owned the U.S. Open, starting with a 65 and ending up a cumulative 12-under par. Tiger owned golf. © RealClearSports 2010 |
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Friday, June 18th, 2010SF Examiner: Favorite Mickelson suffers through poor first dayBy Art Spander PEBBLE BEACH — Sorry about that, Phil. But that’s often what happens when you reach 40. Your putting falls apart. Ben Hogan was a basket case on the greens when he crossed the magic number. Sam Snead even tried hitting a ball like he was playing croquet, not golf. Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company |
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Thursday, June 17th, 2010SF Examiner: U.S. Open will return to Pebble Beach in 2019By Art Spander PEBBLE BEACH — It was a long time coming. “East Coast bias?” mused U.S. Golf Association official Mike Davis. But once more it won’t be a long time before the U.S. Open returns to Pebble Beach. Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company |
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Thursday, June 17th, 2010SF Examiner: Stage set for more Pebble magicBy Art Spander PEBBLE BEACH — It’s a place of myth, magic and great champions. It’s a name, Pebble Beach, that evokes other names, those such as Nicklaus, Watson, Kite and Woods. A golf course can be equated to a battlefield. It’s what happened there that makes it unforgettable. Through the years at Pebble Beach, what’s happened is four times the U.S. Open was played and four times top players won. Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company |
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