PEBBLE BEACH — So it was hailing one day at Pebble Beach Golf Links, and it was time for some fun. Sam Saunders threw snowballs. Patrick Reed’s caddie, Kessler Karain, made a snow angel. Jonas Blixt created a snowman.
It was Feb. 11, 2019 in the fourth round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. More problematic than any difficult lie or pending bunker shot, weather was the most challenging obstacle. It’s always been so for the enduring tournament.
Via darkness, heavy rain, strong winds, hail, sleet, snow, falling trees or whatever other nasty cocktail of elements spoil a good walk, golfers competing in the AT&T are always at the mercy of the weather.
High winds blow over signage Sunday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach Golf Links. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Some golfers, notably international players who learned the game where bad weather is the norm, embrace the challenge. Other players aren’t so enthusiastic; they stay from events like the AT&T.
And so it was Sunday, whether you’re Wyndham Clark or Nick Dunlap. A day after the former played the best competitive round of golf in the links’ history or the latter, the pro phenomenon enduring the humility of golf, nature took over.
In the debut of the new “Signature Event” era of the tournament, the field of 80 pros, the spectators and the volunteers, were all told to stay away until a pending Monday finish.
Justin Rose won last year on Monday, after four days of fickle weather that included overcast skies, rain, hail and gusting winds. The gusts moved balls on greens, but sunshine prevailed for a weekday conclusion.
Clark, the reigning U.S. Open titlist, shot a 60 in the third round on Saturday. Dunlap, who turned pro a few days after winning The American Express two weeks ago as an amateur, shot a 73 and is last in the field by two shots at 7-over-par.
Until this year, the AT&T progressed as serious golf mixed with the often zaniness of the celebrity field. Sometimes, pros join the banter, with fickle weather being a favorite topic.
When the rains hit in 1960, pro-am contestant Johnny (Tarzan) Weissmuller, once the world’s greatest swimmer, declared: “I’ve never been so wet in my life.”
Two years later, Jimmy Demaret, the first player to win the Masters three times, unloaded one of the tournament’s most famous quotes.
Looking out the window from his room at The Lodge at the snow on the ground, he said, “I knew I got loaded last night, but how did I wind up at Squaw Valley?”
Since the tournament moved to the Monterey Peninsula in 1947, it has been limited to 54 holes six times and limited to two rounds due to bad weather once, in 1952. It was canceled in 1996 because of poor weather.
In 1998, nine holes were played Thursday, nine holes on Friday and 18 holes Saturday. Rain prevented Sunday and Monday rounds.
The third round was delayed until August to prevent cancellations similar to 1996. Forty-three of 168 players withdrew rather than return for the round. Phil Mickelson won the tournament.
In 2019, the fourth round Sunday was called because of darkness after 16 holes. Mickelson, leading by three shots, and Paul Casey returned to Pebble Beach and played the final holes Monday morning. Casey finished his 16th hole and Mickelson prevailed for his record-tying fifth AT&T title in two morning holes.
Mickelson wanted to claim his record-tying fifth title while playing in the dark. It was sunny in Sunday’s final round until quickly it wasn’t when a hail storm arrived. The tournament was delayed for one hour because of rain and for two hours because of the hail before it was called.
“I can see fine,” Mickelson told tournament officials on the 16th fairway. Casey couldn’t see. The two players completed the tournament in about 30 minutes Monday morning, meaning Mickelson has won the longest and shortest tournament editions.
The event’s legacy of often inclement weather was destined even before it moved to the Monterey Peninsula in 1947.
In the event’s Rancho Santa Fe debut in 1937, heavy rain prompted some impromptu hobbie time.
Tired of three days of nasty rain, some players decided to go duck hunting on a pond near the 18th green. Legend recalls when the ducks flew away, the players’ target was the hat of Larry Crosby, tournament founder Bing Crosby’s older brother.
Demaret, who died in 1983, was also part of another chapter of AT&T weather lore. The 1952 tournament is known as the “Year of the Big Blow.”Winds at Cypress Point increased 45 miles per hour in the first round and a high score of 93 was posted while the low score was 74.
Demaret and playing partner Cary Middlecoff tried to walk off the course. Head professional Peter Hay, the namesake of The Hay (the course adjacent to Pebble Beach) told the players:
“Show me in the rules book where it says you have to tee up the ball. Now get back out there and play!”
The tournament continued.