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Pebble
Beach Pro-Am:
Repair work nearly complete
By
TOM MOORE
Sentinel
Sports Editor
Part
of the 18th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links slid away during
recent heavy rains.
This
is golf's holy land, but there's a plan, and this giant
divot (about 250- 300 square feet) will be replaced.
"A
project is now under way to restore the area," said R.J.
Harper of Pebble Beach Company Operations. The temporary
restoration is scheduled to be completed Friday, in plenty
of time for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Feb.
7-13.
"The
plan is to erect a vertical wall within the eroded area,
which will be anchored to the bedrock below and fastened
to the underbelly of turf. The wall will be back-filled
with native soil, so basically we're just restoring the
area we lost. We're not going to be doing any more repairs,"
Harper said.
The
project is considered temporary under a coastal emergency
repair permit. "If I'd had my druthers we wouldn't have
gone in and repaired it," Harper said, "because it tightened
the shot just a little bit. We didn't lose any fairway,
we lost a little bit in the rough area. Certainly there
won't be any impact on the tournament."
At
Monday's media day in advance of the AT&T event, defending
pro-am champion Jerry Kelly (who won with amateur partner
and friend Robert Haimi Jr.), fondly recalled the victory.
"It
was very special. We'd been playing together for seven years.
We really ham-and-egged it last year. I can't tell you how
much it meant to him," Kelly said.
Vijay
Singh won the professional event last year, his first victory
of the season on the way to Player of the Year honors, record
earnings of $10.9 million, and nine victories, including
the PGA Championship.
Fellow
players, including Kelly, are still marveling at Singh's
season. "I don't think you could ever envision anyone matching
Tiger's year in 2000," Kelly said of Woods' dominating season.
"Vijay wanted that. That was all he wanted. He put in more
than just work. Before, it seemed like he didn't have a
purpose, he was just filling time. He seems like he's got
such a purpose. He still remains a great guy, but he takes
that work ethic and gives it a little more direction than
he had before, and your really see the rewards."
Singh
is scheduled to defend his title. Others in the field include
Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III, Tom Lehman, Jim Furyk and
Darren Clarke. Woods, who won the AT&T as a warm-up to his
U.S. Open victory at Pebble Beach in 2000, is not scheduled
to compete. He skipped last year's tournament as well.
Celebrities
scheduled to play include Bill Murray, Ray Romano, Kevin
Costner, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Sinise and Donald Trump.
The
tournament has raised more than $50 million for charity
in its history. The PGA Tour plans to kick off a promotional
campaign "Road to a Billion" at the tournament, recognizing
that the tour is expected to reach $1 billion donated to
charities sometime in 2006.
n
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am schedule: Monday, Feb.
7: 8 a.m., practice rounds at Pebble Beach, Spyglass and
Poppy Hills. Tuesday, Feb. 8: 8 a.m., practice rounds; 1:30
p.m., GoGirlGo.com Charity Shoot-out at Pebble Beach; 3:30
p.m., First Tee of Monterey County Youth Clinic at Twin
Creeks, Salinas. Wednesday, Feb. 9: 8 a.m., practice rounds;
11 a.m., 3M Celebrity Challenge at Pebble Beach; 3:30 p.m.,
Payne Stewart Youth Clinic (free) at Pebble Beach driving
range. Thursday, Feb. 10: 8 a.m., first round, all three
courses. Friday, Feb. 11: 8 a.m., second round, all three
courses. Saturday, Feb. 12: 8 a.m., third round, all three
courses. Sunday, Feb. 13: 7:30 a.m., final round at Pebble
Beach, 60 low professionals, 25 low pro-am teams.
Tickets
are available at www.attpbgolf.com, by calling 1-800-541-9091,
or for purchase at the gate.
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