The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am’s long and colorful history
George Fazio and Ed Furgol had long, versatile careers. But they may be among the lesser-remembered winners of professional golf tournaments on the Monterey Peninsula.
Fazio was also a renowned course designer who incorporated cloverleaves and butterfly shapes into bunkers. Furgol won the 1954 U.S. Open and played with a left arm 10 inches shorter than his right arm.
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The golfers’ names emerged together once on top of a final leaderboard in 1947 in the first year after the Bing Crosby Pro-Am moved from its origin in Southern California to the Monterey Peninsula.
The duo tied in the event’s 54-hole debut and split the winner’s check of $2,000 while playing Pebble Beach, Cypress Point Club and Monterey Peninsula Country Club. It was the first time a PGA Tour event was played on three courses.
Fazio, who died in 1986, won 10 professional events, including the 1945 California State Open in Fresno. Furgol, a six-time PGA Tour titlist, died in 1997.
The 80th edition of AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, its legacy packed with legendary and unheralded titlists, begins Thursday.
Amended and appended through nine decades, five official names and one cancellation, the tournament is scheduled to include 80 professionals and 80 amateurs.
Minus its long-tenured combined pro-am persona of professionalism and playfulness, the tournament marks the start of the PGA Tour’s hybrid season, its eight Signature Events.
Changes occurred after the LIV Tour held its first tournament in 2022. The Saudi-financed circuit attracted some of golf’s most prominent players away from the PGA Tour with multi-million dollar contracts, three-round events, no cuts and guaranteed tournament earnings. In response, the PGA Tour introduced its exclusive series.
A majority of the game’s top players will compete in the AT&T, which for the third year is a $20 million event with a $4.5 million winner’s share.
The championship is scheduled for 72 holes, including two rotating rounds at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill and weekend play only at Pebble Beach. It’s one of five elevated events without a cut.
“What we’ve found out is that we are teaching our fans what we are about,” said Steve John, tournament director and CEO of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, the tournament organizers.
“We had 78 years as a celebrity pro-am to (change) to what we are now, a 36-hole pro-am and a 36-hole professional at Pebble Beach on the weekend. For a golf fan, there’s probably nothing better.”
A handful of celebrity amateurs will still participate in one round each at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. Weekend play will include pros only at Pebble Beach, the tournament host course for the 74th time.
Since its early years, the AT&T has featured many of golf’s best players, Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Woods and Sam Snead to Scottie Scheffler. But the adjoining celebrity pro-am attracted non-golf fans, the tournament’s revenue anchor.
As much as any player, spectators followed comedians, country singers and actors. But the tournament’s lightheartedness is gone. Only serious golf for serious money remains.
Rory McIlroy will defend his 2025 title among a field comprised of most of the top 80-ranked players. Tournament organizers have four exemption positions.
“We feel very comfortable with the product (players) we are putting on the golf course and with the new product (entertainment) for the fans will check a lot of boxes and bring more fans to the tournament,” said John.
While the AT&T is the 10th-oldest PGA Tour event, its location and long tenure as one of the circuit’s few celebrity pro-ams make its legend additionally unique. Until 2024, it was a mixture of golf’s universal common appeals — humor and skill.
Consider some of the tournament’s famous, infamous and otherwise notable moments through its nine decades and the pending 80th edition:
1940s
With a final-round 75, Fazio finished the $10,000 debut event in the 1947 tournament, several hours ahead of Furgol. But the latter rallied in the rain among the field of 75 to emerge in a tie. The on-course drama was equaled by tempers off the course. Fred Corcoran, tournament manager for the PGA, told authorities he was recovering from “bruised lips and loosened teeth” after an unprovoked attack by pro Dick Metz outside a Carmel restaurant. Corcoran added, “Metz struck me on the mouth without warning.” Metz explained the situation differently. Corcoran eventually dropped the charges against Metz.
1950s
Teammates Ben Hogan and Bing Crosby both played in the event for the final time in 1958. Hogan tied for 32nd, 19 strokes behind winner Cary Middlecoff. The duo led the pro-am division after the first round but faded. Steady rain started the night before the last round and continued throughout the next day. Standing water spotted fairways and greens were underwater. Crosby asked Hogan to leave the course to go to his house off the 13th hole. But Hogan continued to play and finished with an 81.
1960s
Clint Eastwood made his debut in the 1963 tournament’s pro-am with the quick wit of a stand-up comedian. The actor-director and future Pebble Beach Company owner said it took so long for him to get invited because the tournament founder didn’t like cowboys. Legend details Eastwood’s invitation for his tournament debut included Bing Crosby’s words, “P.S. By the way, I do like cowboys.”
1970s
Five years after his first time, Jack Nicklaus won in 1972 in a playoff and again in 1973 in a playoff. Nicklaus and Johnny Miller were tied after 72-hole regulation play at 4-under.
But Nicklaus won on the 15th, the first playoff hole. He hit his 9-iron tee shot to 18 feet and made birdie. He returned to Pebble Beach to win his third U.S. Open title a few months and issued one of the tournament’s most well-known quotes: “I’ve said many times before that if I had one more round of golf in my life, I’d probably want to play it at Pebble Beach.”
1980s
Mark O’Meara had a 44-year pro career filled with international success. With Phil Mickelson, he has a record five AT&T titles, the first of which was won in 1985.It was the last year founder Bing Crosby’s name remained in the event’s title. O’Meara’s consistency at Pebble Beach also propelled him to AT&T titles in 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1997. He won the pro-am division with his father Bob in 1990. Detailing the final round and O’Meara’s win in 1992, Mark Soltau, then a staff writer for the San Francisco Examiner, wrote: “Samuel Morse, the founder of Pebble Beach, used to be known as the Duke of Del Monte. Now, meet the Prince of Pebble, Mark O’Meara.”
1990s
Comedian-actor Bill Murray attracted more AT&T spectators than anyone. In 1993, he danced with an elderly woman in a bunker off the 18th hole. The woman awkwardly fell. PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman was critical of Murray and his antics.
One year later, Murray started a television interview by asking for Beman’s resignation and added, “It’s a Nazi state out here. He (Beman) is trying to ban us from the tournament because it’s too much fun. He’s out of touch. He’s just another screwhead too big for his britches.”
2000s
Tiger Woods never seemed to care much for the AT&T. He doesn’t like the poa annua grass at Pebble Beach. And he wasn’t enamored of playing with celebrities.But trailing by seven shots with seven holes left in the fourth round in the 2000 event, he shot a 64 on the Monday finale for his sixth straight PGA Tour win. Matt Gogel and Vijay Singh tied for second, trailing Woods by two shots.
2010s
Ted Potter Jr. had won more than 50 times since his only previous PGA Tour title, all on mini-tours, fringe pro events and in weekend hustles.But 16 years after claiming the 2012 Greenbrier Classic, Potter took his second title in 2018 with arguably the most unexpected win in tournament history.Ranked 246th in the world, Potter finished with 11 straight pars for a 69 at Pebble Beach and a three-shot win over Phil Mickelson, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Chez Reavie. Potter assumed the lead with a third-round 62 at MPCC.
2020s
With a third-round, 12-under 60, the lowest competitive round ever posted on Pebble Beach, Wyndham Clark claimed the AT&T’s weather-plagued, 54-hole 2024 Signature Event debut. Clark’s round included two eagles, nine birdies and one bogey. He eclipsed the previous tournament record of 62 shared by Tom Kite, David Duval, Patrick Cantlay and Matthias Schwab. Clark finished one shot ahead of Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and two shots better than Matthieu Pavon of France.
If you go
- The tournament runs from a little before 9 a.m. until about 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Portions will be televised by the Golf Channel and CBS. For tickets and more information, visit www.attpbgolf.com.