Star power boost makes ‘ Clambake’ a hot ticket again
players in the world ranking showed up — headlined by No. 1 Jordan Spieth and No. 3 Jason Day — along with fourtime AT& T champion Phil Mickelson.
Five years ago, only three of the world’s top 20 players bothered to enter the tournament.
The impetus for this revival, in many ways, traces to tournament director Steve John’s pursuit of fresh faces for the celebrity field. Timberlake returned this year for the first time since 2009, bringing along his 52 million Twitter followers ( at least in a virtual sense).
Timberlake’s decision persuaded 2013 U. S. Open champion Justin Rose, a good friend, to play in the AT& T for the first time. Actor- producer Mark Wahlberg similarly lured two- time Masters champion Bubba Watson, who will make his first appearance in nine years.
Put another way: The AT& T regained its mojo by rediscovering its Crosby roots.
“It’s kind of turned into a buddy tournament, and that’s pretty cool,” John said. “… We have the Clambake in a way, but it’s just happened organically.”
John spoke alongside the practice green Wednesday on the eve of the tournament. Nearby, actor Kunal Nayyar — who plays Raj on “Big Bang Theory,” the wildly popular sitcom — signed autographs and posed for cell phone photos with a stream of spectators.
If the crowds seem bigger than usual this week, there’s ample reason. Pre- tournament ticket sales increased about 17 percent from last year, John said, and reached their highest level since at least 2012.
That was the year Tiger Woods and Mickelson engaged in a rare finalround duel. Woods played in the tournament for the first and only time since 2002.
His distaste for the sketchy weather, bumpy greens and long rounds helped drag the AT& T into irrelevance, at least among top professionals. But today’s new generation of stars, led by Spieth ( age 22) and Day ( 28), seems more willing to embrace the unique pro- am format.
“I think a lot of it has to do with the different celebrities who came back, and how they speak about the event,” Spieth said this week. “Honestly, I think that has a significant impact on us as PGA Tour players. … The celebrities actually have kind of helped build this tournament.”
Spieth’s amateur partner, country singer Jake Owen, agreed that more pros savor the chance to spend time with entertainers and athletes from other sports.
“I feel lucky I get to play with Jordan and Dustin ( Johnson) the last couple of years,” Owen said. “But you can also tell they like playing with us. We give them a little escape from the seriousness of day- to- day life on tour.”
Several changes enacted by former tournament director Ollie Nutt also helped.
Nutt led the effort to add Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore Course to the rotation in 2010, replacing Poppy Hills ( which was unpopular with tour pros) and joining Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. The field of players was reduced from 360 to 312, reducing the length of rounds.
Also worth noting: The pro purse has climbed to $ 7 million, making this event the most lucrative stop on the PGA Tour’s West Coast swing. And Pebble Beach officials installed a state- of- the- art practice facility in 2014, the same year a modern, 16,000- square- foot player clubhouse opened.
Tour pros love these amenities. So would Crosby, who died in 1977 but left behind a legacy of the golf and entertainment worlds convening on the picturesque Monterey Peninsula. This dates to the days of Dean Martin, Bob Hope and Jack Lemmon highlighting the celebrity field, stretching to the current mix of fan favorite Bill Murray and new faces such as Nayyar, the “Big Bang” actor, and baseball’s American League Most Valuable Player, Josh Donaldson.
All these years later, the tradition remains alive and well.