Celebrity Autographs And Celebrity Addresses

Tom Moore: Soaking in the scenery at Pebble Beach
PEBBLE BEACH — TV taught me nothing.
I took my first visit to Pebble Beach Golf Links on Monday.

As many of the world’s best players rolled in on 17-Mile Drive for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, I took a look around.

A longtime golf fan, I’ve seen Pebble Beach on television. I’ve played simulated rounds at the course on video games. I knew the course as well as I could in two dimensions.

I’ve taken the drive, stopped at the clubhouse, considered dropping $400 for a round, as if it wasn’t insanity.

I’d looked out at the scene from the 18th green.

So Monday, as it spit a little rain, I found myself standing at Pebble Beach, media credential in hand. And since no one was inviting me to tee it up, there was only one thing for a state-of-Washington transplant to do. I walked it.

The rumor was that Vijay Singh had set out on a practice round earlier.

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The crowds hadn’t arrived, many players hadn’t arrived. The scene had none of the tournament atmosphere.

What you can’t see on TV are the elevation changes, the subtleties, the horizons, how high Singh hits the ball.

I’d seen putts on TV, but hadn’t seen the tiny, sloped fifth green and understood why the putts curled. I hadn’t seen that amid one of most scenic spots in the world, someone with a home on the fifth hole decided it needed a giant blob of a modern man-made statue in his or her back yard. The riches of the mansions, the real estate prices, the excess left me stunned.

I knew the second shot on the sixth hole played uphill, but you can’t see the severity, the reality on TV.

I knew the seventh hole was short, that it stuck out into the water, that winds and weather played tricks with the 106-yard shot. But I hadn’t heard the surf there, or taken in the scenery, the look to the south at the sands of Carmel, the view to the north of No. 17.

Paul Gow, who is still searching for his first PGA Tour victory, played the hole, then teed up on No. 8, hit two shots, then took a moment to take in the view.

And one fan turned to me and said it: "When God plays golf, this is where he plays."

Coincidentally, that’s about when I caught up with Singh — the $10 million man. Defending champion at Pebble Beach. No. 1 in the world — as close to God playing golf as we’ve got. (A claim arguable to the people running the Web site www.tigerwoodsisgod.com).

I covered Singh’s first major title, the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club in the Seattle area. Since the breakthrough, he’s been nothing but better, winning 19 times, including two more majors. And he enters this week’s play by returning to the site of his first of nine victories in 2004. He’s already ahead of that pace, with a victory at the Sony Open last month.

I wondered what $400 green fees meant to a man who made $10.9 million last year (before endorsements), not that he had to pay them. Singh appeared at ease, able to enjoy the scenery. He signed autographs generously. He hit towering tee shots, which will serve him well on a soft course with little roll.

He’ll take on a field this week that includes Phil Mickelson, who is coming off a win in Phoenix on Sunday. He’s taking on a Tour this year as strong and as interesting as it has ever been. Tiger Woods, absent this week from the site of his 2000 U.S. Open victory, seems to be close to the form he had in 2000 after a victory at Torrey Pines last month. Ernie Els, who also is skipping the Pro-Am, hasn’t finished out of the top 10 in three events.

As Singh went through the practice round, he smiled occasionally, studied, practiced chips shots and eyeballed potential pin placements. His streak in 2004 may have started on the back nine last year on Saturday. That’s when he birdied five of six holes to take over the lead.

He appeared to have some magic left Monday. He chipped in with shots on No. 14 and No. 15 during practice. In a bizarre moment, he almost hit a dog with his approach shot on No. 16. No harm.

On the 178-yard No. 17, site of Tom Watson’s chip-in at the 1982 U.S. Open — perhaps golf’s most memorable shot — Singh stuck his tee shot to within 3 feet. The small crowd gave him a smattering of applause and he probably deserved more. On the green, he Ty Webb-ed a couple of putts ("nanenenene-na," I thought).

On 18, Singh took no notice of the small chunk of prime real estate that had slipped off the cliff and had been artificially refilled. He knocked his second shot on the par 5 into the greenside bunker, practiced a couple shots and walked off the course. ... looking like 10 million bucks, and with more game than you see on TV.