2006 Pebble Beach Pro-Am… These Guys are Good?!?!?
This weekend, I spent a good amount of time watching the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on CBS. This tournament is one of my favorites, because of the scenery and mystique that Pebble Beach brings. I was even more excited because the weather was spectacular the entire week. However, the golf and TV coverage again were like most AT&T Pro-Ames horrible.
One of the characteristics of the AT&T that makes it unique is that players play three different courses and PAS Professionals are paired with celebrities. However, when I tuned into CBS coverage on Saturday, I noticed that all of the marquee players were not playing Pebble, which is where CBS had most of their cameras. (There was coverage of holes 9 and 18 on both Poppy Hills and Spyglass, I believe). So CBS was left with basically three options: (1) Show coverage of Phil Mickelson, who was 7-under early in his round, but then began to stink; (2) Follow Aaron Oberholser, who was leading the tournament and playing the front nine. (Too bad they did not have TV coverage on most of the front 9 at Pebble); or (3) Show Bill Murray play hockey around the hole and then throw his ball into the crowd. Well CBS chose option #3.
I find Bill marriage outlandish ways on a golf course refreshing. He definitely has a good time and enjoys playing to the crowd. But, there is nothing pretty about his golf game, well at least his putting on Saturday. I cannot count how many times he’d putt the ball 10 feet by the hole and then expect the crowd to get excited and cheer for him. Personally, I probably would have said to myself, what was that! And laughed at his inability to possess “touch.” Another one of his antics was when he took the cord of the TV camera on 13 and wrapped it around the guy holding the TV camera and pulled him to the ground. Yes, I laughed, but I tuned into the coverage to watch golf, not a country western rodeo on a golf course. Nevertheless, I decided to watch Sunday to see if the coverage would be better.
When Sunday’s coverage came on, I was already excited because my OSI backwash had just defeated Illinois on CBS. However, when they showed the leaderboard, Oberholser was up by 5. Well at least the weather was nice, I thought. Then, after a few holes, Aaron was up by 7. Then, Aaron started to play like your typical talented hack. Off the trees, on the green, birdie on 15. Hitting it into bunkers and never feeling comfortable the last few holes. It was painful to watch, but I thought it was even more painful to watch Weir gag from 5 feet all day and the CBS team recalling how great of a short “par” putter he was. I think we should have a new event on TV involving Weir and Phil doing 5 foot par circles, and seeing how many they miss, when the pressure is on.
Anyways, Aaron won. Not because he shot a great and memorable final round, but because no one really challenged him on Sunday. Yet, a win is a win, and something that he’ll always remember. I just wish as a fan of golf, I would have been able to watch a fantastic finish and see glimmers of “These Guys are Good” like the PGA promotes.
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