A Round of 18

Thursday, February 10, 2011

At the very first hole of his 2010 AT&T – before the gallery had finished its first little lattes, the often imitated, never duplicated Bill Murray decided to interrupt his playing partners for the first time of many times to come.

“Ten bucks he misses,” he said, referring to his own playing partner Tim “Lumpy” Herron.

In almost every other golf context it would be tacky to talk while another player’s addressing a putt, let alone your partner. At no tournament is open betting encouraged. But here at the AT&T, normal golf guidelines don’t apply.

With that in mind, make a loud and public bet on the outcome of this quiz. Play against a friend for $1 skins (if you both get a question right or wrong its $1 weight is added to the next question) or use the advanced interactive scoreboard* to see where you rank against the field. Or do the AT&T thing, and make up your own approach.

1. Which of the following is worth the most?

a. The total purse for the 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

b. The Chateau in Pebble Beach, a 6,762-square-foot mansion-venue

c. A human life (according to the Federal Aviation Administration)

d. A small piece of advertising space on a NASCAR race car

e. The Chanel D-Flawless Bracelet Watch

2. What was the first year that the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am became the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am?

a. 1984

b. 1986

c. 1987

d. 1988

e. 1989

3. Which of the following isn’t true about the early days of “the Crosby”?

a. Each entrant was encouraged to drink “no fewer than one and no more than six alcoholic beverages” per round.

b. It was held in Southern California.

c. No women were permitted at the pre-tournament clambake.

d. Spectators were allowed to stroll the fairways with the participants.

e. Sam Snead won the first two.

4. All of the following can be accurately said about Bing Crosby except:

a. He was an accomplished golfer.

b. He once slipped off the western edge of the 10th fairway and tumbled onto Carmel Beach.

c. He died on a golf course.

d. He once brought in two priests to play here (and appeal to higher powers for clearer skies, which “worked”).

e. He paired with Ben Hogan on Hogan’s final Pro-Am appearance.

5. What isn’t an annual tradition at today’s “clambakes,” where all the participating entertainers perform for the volunteers?

a. An early run on the fresh shrimp

b. Kenny G delivering a 90-second note on his sax

c. George Lopez making fun of Kenny G

d. On-stage appearances by tournament chair/clambake entertainment chief Clint Eastwood and wife Dina

e. Emcee Tom Dreesen joking about Eastwood getting old

f. Ray Romano doing impressions of Michael Bolton

6. Which cartoon character graced earlier Bing Crosby promotional materials?

a. Charlie Brown

b. Snoopy

c. Woodstock

d. Popeye

e. Bogey the Seagull

7. Identify which comment George Lopez didn’t make about Pebble Beach, where he owns a home and once wore a kilt around Spyglass:

a. “Sometimes I cook chorizo just for the smell.”

b. “My finest athletic moment was sinking a 12-foot putt on the 14th green at Pebble to make the cut my first year.”

c. “I have to leave Pebble and drive to Sand City to be with my people.”

d. “There aren’t many Mexicans that play this good or look this nice.”

e. “I walked out of my house one day and one of my workers says, ‘Dey don like eet when we peese in dee house.’”

8. Which past champion does not enjoy a share of the record for greatest margin of victory (five strokes)?

a. Lloyd Mangrum

b. Tiger Woods

c. Jack Nicklaus

d. Fuzzy Zoeller

e. Cary Middlecoff

f. Arron Oberholser

g. Phil Mickelson

9. Andy Garcia, who traditionally shares an AT&T foursome with Lopez, is currently writing, directing and co-starring in a film about what famous American wordsmith?

a. Henry Miller

b. John Steinbeck

c. e.e. cummings

d. Ernest Hemingway

e. Edgar Allen Poe

f. Emily Dickinson

10. Who has the course record at the three participating courses, Pebble Beach, Spyglass and MPCC Shores Course, respectively?

a. Sam Snead, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus

b. David Duval, Phil Mickelson, Chad Vivolo

c. Tom Kite, Phil Mickelson/Luke Donald (tie), Chad Vivolo

d. Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, Fuzzy Zoeller

e. Arron Oberholser, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson

11. Which of the following hasn’t been featured on the show named after perennial participant Maury Povich? (Call 1-866-996-2879 to audition.)

a. People with phobias of cotton balls and foil

b. Siamese twins attempting to date

c. Primordial dwarves

d. A 200-pound, 4-year-old girl

e. DNA tests

12. Which of the following celebrities has not played in an AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am?

a. George H. W. Bush

b. Gerald Ford

c. Joe Montana

d. Donald Trump

e. Dan Quayle

f. Carl Lewis

13. With the help of volunteers – who will number around 2,000 this year – how much has the tournament raised for local charities, all time?

a. $86 million

b. $79 million

c. $77 million

d. $75 million

e. $69 million

14. Which of the following doesn’t apply to the group that has turned the 15th tee box at Pebble into their annual Pro-Am party every Saturday:

a. They give away custom hats, tees, cigars and adult beverages to the players.

b. They have a different inspirational motto painted on their chests each year.

c. They memorize chants or songs for a range of different entrants.

d. They encourage rampant crowd-surfing from the players and even caddies.

e. They wear matching shirts.

15. What’s untrue about crowd favorite Bubba Watson?

a. He won the first tournament of the 2011 season at Torrey Pines, his second title.

b. He’s one of the few lefties on tour.

c. His nickname is “The Bomber from Baghdad (Florida).”

d. His wife, a 6-foot-4-inch basketball player, is also a professional athlete.

e. He explains his name thusly: “As soon as I was born, 10 seconds later my dad said, ‘He’s fat and ugly. Let’s call him Bubba.’”

16. Which of the following world-class athletes playing the AT&T in 2011 does not belong in this group? (Bonus: What is that group?)

a. Drew Brees

b. Harris Barton

c. Bill Belichick

d. Matt Cain

e. Tony Romo

f. Brandi Chastain

g. Oscar de la Hoya

h. Kelly Slater

17. Over the years Bill Murray has done all of the following except:

a. Thrown his club into the air after a huge drive and crowd-surfed the gallery.

b. Handed a carefully customized hat made for him by a fan to his leaderboarder.

c. Won the 3M Charity Shoot-Out and chose Salinas libraries as his charity.

d. Told a teenager, “When you get your braces off, call me.”

e. Stolen a fan’s glass of red wine, sipped it and declared it cranberry juice.

f. Loudly evoked the late John Denver’s help on a tricky putt.

18. Which country will not be represented by at least one professional competitor?

a. Argentina

b. Brazil

c. Mexico

d. Fiji

e. India

f. Sweden

g. Zimbabwe

h. Germany

IN THE EVENT OF A TIE: | Sudden Death Playoff

First Hole:

Rank the following players in order of the number of AT&T Waterfords they’ve taken home (most wins to the least):

a. Dustin Johnson

b. Phil Mickelson

c. Mark O’Meara

d. Davis Love III

e. Tiger Woods

f. Jack Nicklaus

Second Hole:

Who is going to win this year?

(Players pick one entrant, highest finisher wins the kitty)

Answers

1. a. (a. $6.3 million, b. $4.4 million, c. $6 million, d. $6 million, e. $1.9 million); 2. b; 3. a; 4. b; 5. f; 6. b; 7. d; 8. b; 9. d; 10. c; 11. b; 12. f; 13. a; 14. b; 15. d; 16. e; 17. a; 18. c. Playoff: c. O’Meara (5 championships); b. Mickelson and f. Nicklaus (3 each); a. Johnson and Love III (2 each); e. Woods (1)