It’s Where Everyone Is Cold but O’Meara

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — They used to call it Crosby weather when this tournament carried Bing Crosby’s name instead of the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro Am--and that’s such a mouthful even Bing would have had a hard time singing it.

It’s probably comforting to know that while the name is different, one thing hasn’t changed. That would be the weather.

You know . . . rain that comes down sideways, flagstick-bending wind, near-freezing temperature.

All right, so it was sunny and breezy Wednesday afternoon. It was only fooling us.

When the tournament begins today, it’s supposed to have rained hard overnight and thus transformed the courses at Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Poppy Hills into something resembling the texture of so much green oatmeal.

More rain is forecast through the weekend, which means two things can happen: The weather forecasters can be wrong (which is always possible), or carts may be outlawed but boats permitted.

Already the players are preparing themselves. Lanny Wadkins said the courses are as wet as he has seen them. Tiger Woods is concerned his amateur partner, his father Earl, might get worn out from walking if the courses are too muddy. Davis Love III said if the fairways are too soft because of rain, the courses will play extremely long.

Besides waiting for the weather hammer to drop, the other thing on most players’ minds is how to stop Mark O’Meara. A five-time winner here, O’Meara is also the defending champion and once again one of the favorites to win this $2.5-million tournament.

Only Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus and Alex Ross have won one particular tournament as many as six times in their careers. Snead won at Greensboro eight times and at the Miami Open six times. Nicklaus has won the Masters six times and Ross won the North & South Open six times.

All that stands between O’Meara and a sixth victory here is 72 holes, 167 other players and the potential of some watery conditions.

Who’s to say O’Meara won’t get it?

Love said he thinks he knows why O’Meara is so tough on these courses, carved into wedges of land between the water and the Del Monte Forest.

“He putts these greens better than anybody,” Love said. “They break funny [but] sometimes you get on a roll and you make everything.

“I played with him one year when he won here and it was amazing how many putts he holed. He just has a knack for it.”

Last year, O’Meara closed with a 67 and held off David Duval and Woods, whose final-round 64 wasn’t quite enough.

As far as repeating goes, O’Meara said what works best is not putting any more burdens on himself, such as the pressure of having to defend.

“I figure, hey, I’ve won,” he said. “If I don’t win [again], at least I’ve done it one time--or five times. So it’s not the end of the world.”

This is the third tournament in the last three weeks to use a pro-am format featuring celebrities. Bill Murray, of exploding golf ball fame, will tee it up once again and so will such celebrities as Kevin Costner, Jack Lemmon, Donald Trump and Charles Schulz.

Earl Woods would have played with his son at last year’s event but missed it because of a heart ailment. He eventually had heart surgery. The elder Woods, 64, plays to a 12 handicap, which would be higher, but he hasn’t played enough rounds since his illness to change his number.

The Woodses played their first practice round Tuesday at Pebble Beach, which Tiger called “brutal” because of his jet lag after flying from Thailand.

Woods said his father will be ready to cope with the conditions, whatever they may be.

“He will be tired, no doubt about it, but we’re all tired when we walk these courses, sloppy as they are,” Woods said. “It will be a challenge.”

It shouldn’t be easy for anybody, even if O’Meara has a habit of making it appear that way.

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Pebble Beach

National Pro-Am

* Site: Pebble Beach, Calif.

* Schedule: Today-Sunday.

* Courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links (6,799 yards, par 72), Spyglass Hill Golf Club (6,810 yards, par 72), Poppy Hills Golf Club (6,865 yards, par 72).

* Purse: $2.5 million.

* Winner’s Share: $450,000.

* Television: USA (today-Friday, 4-6 p.m., delayed) and CBS (Saturday-Sunday, noon).

* Defending champion: Mark O’Meara