Men’s Pro
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Moving the Needle
Don’t Give Up
On Tiger
Mark O’Meara, despite his longtime friendship
with Tiger Woods, said he has no more clue than
anyone else when Woods will return to competi-
tion. And while distressed at what happened with
Woods and his sexual escapades, O’Meara said he
wouldn’t give up on him.
“I was shocked when I heard everything,”
O’Meara said after a round of the AT&T Pebble
Beach Pro-Am. “I was like a big brother to him,
and he was like my younger brother. But since I’ve
been playing the Champions Tour I haven’t been
around Tiger for the last three years.”
A five-time winner at Pebble Beach, as well as
the 1979 California Amateur at Pebble, O’Meara
returns yearly for the event, even though for the
most part he has left the PGA Tour. This year he
was teamed with Masters chairman Billy Payne,
who chose not to talk about Woods, or anything
else to reporters.
“I love Tiger,” said O’Meara. “He’s my dear
friend. I’m certainly disappointed in him. He’s been
criticized and rightly so, but at the same time he
has done a lot of good for the game. He’s not the
first human to make a mistake. But he’s a strong
man emotionally, and if he came and won The
Masters, well, look at what he did a few years ago
at San Diego after the knee surgery.
“We need him in golf. I think we are looking
for him doing the right thing.”
the wrist feel good enough for Garcia to return to
tournaments, a couple weeks back in the Mideast.
Brad Faxon shot 77 the second day at Pebble.
The next time he’ll be at the course is in June for
the U.S. Open, perhaps as a contestant but more
likely as an announcer for NBC.
“I have this deal,” Faxon said. “If I qualify to
play, I can play. So, I can be out there and then
come back on. I’m 48 and 5/12ths, and they are
probably looking for a guy that’s probably trying to
make a decision. It’s a test for NBC, really, to see if
I can be the guy that can fill that role.”
Mark O’Meara says he’s disappointed with his friend Tiger Woods but is not giving up on him.
Tony Romo, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback, who
has a zero handicap, were at Monterey Peninsula
CC, along with other A-list people such as Tom
Brady, Phil Mickelson and Bill Murray.
Daly needed to, well, using a delicate descrip-
tion, find a restroom. Either unable to find one or
impatient, Daly relieved himself in some bushes,
believing he was hidden from the crowd and the
cameras.
A photographer caught Daly leaning over, and the
picture was posted on the gossip site TMZ. Daly said
he was only looking for a ball. John shot an even-par
214 for 54 holes (par at Monterey Peninsula is 70, the
other two courses 72) but missed the cut.
The Tap Room is the historical bar in the Lodge
at Pebble Beach, the one with decades-old photos
of Dean Martin, Bing Crosby and others associated
with Pebble Beach and the tournament, the place
fans and contestants gather to hoist a few — and
toss a right hand.
Friday night, for the first time in recent memory, a
couple of spectators who had been in the establish-
ment a long time got into an argument over a spilled
glass of beer and, whap, one punched the other.
Police were called. It didn’t quite fit the scene of a
hotel known for elegance and $500-a-day rooms.
John Daly seems always to do the wrong thing.
For the first round of the AT&T, he and partner
The U.S. Open will finish in prime time again.
The USGA has confirmed that the U.S. Open at
Pebble Beach in June will be televised until 11 p.m.
EDT on round three with a conclusion of 10 p.m.
set for Sunday's final round. The last time the U.S.
Open went into prime time on the East Coast was in
2008, when it was held at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
Sergio Garcia, in his first PGA Tour start of the
year, did make the cut, breaking par each of the
first three days. He was paired with actor Josh
Duhamel, who has been named to People maga-
zine’s list of the “50 Most Beautiful People.”
“I don’t know him personally,” Garcia said be-
fore linking with Duhamel, “but he knows a friend
of mine in Barcelona. I liked him in ‘Transformers.’
He’s got a great singer as a wife (Fergie). Nothing
wrong with that.”
Garcia, who had not played the tournament
since 2001, strained a tendon in the back of his
right palm in November at Dubai. Instead of tak-
ing time off, he entered the World Cup in China
for two reasons: to represent Spain and because
Omega is one of his sponsors and a sponsor of the
tournament. Only after a month away from golf did
Art Spander
