James Raia
PEBBLE BEACH — The frivolity is gone. No more Bill Murray or Ray Romano. No more wisecracks. No more celebrity exhibitions. No more clever gallery-to-player repartee, the fabric of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am for nearly 90 years since it was the Crosby Clambake.
Several months after the announcement that the AT&T would become a 2024 PGA Tour Signature Event featuring only about half its usual field, no cut, only two golf courses and a $20 million purse, the tournament has detailed further drastic changes.
The previous pro-am division has also been dispatched as part of the new format. Eighty pros will play three rounds at Pebble Beach Golf Links and one round at Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Feb. 1-4. The 54-hole cut has been eliminated. A field of 80 amateurs, including only a handful of pro athletes from other sports, will participate for 36 holes. Also eliminated were the popular exhibition events such as the Celebrity Challenge and the rowdy group that labeled itself Club 15 also isn’t expected to be in attendance.
“We never want to erase our history or forget about it,” said Steve John, the tournament director and CEO of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation. “It’s wonderful. But like anything, there are changes in the world, you have to embrace change. And we are embracing change.”
Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady and Alex Smith, former NFL wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, former San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey and former NBA forward-center Pau Gasol will be among the small group of participating former pro athletes.
The tournament’s changes are the result of the threat from LIV Golf, the controversial and fledgling circuit bankrolled by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. It has reported assets are more than $700 billion. The PGA Tour is reportedly a $1 billion not-for-profit organization. Corporations support the PGA Tour with naming rights, title and secondary sponsorships. The LIV circuit does not rely on any other businesses.
While the AT&T in recent years attracted an international field, many of the PGA Tour’s top players haven’t played.
This year only three players in the world’s top 20 competed in the AT&T, 2022 U.S. Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick, Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland. The field of 156 included only 21 players among the top 100.
“The most important change and the most significant change is the quality of the professionals,” John said. “By going to a Signature Event, we will have the 80 best pros.”
The field will be based on FedExCup points and recent performance status in several other categories. The tournament will receive four sponsor exemptions, whom John said will be “highest-profile.”
Five-time AT&T winner Phil Mickelson and other prominent former AT&T players including Jon Rahm, Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia will not play. Players who left the PGA Tour to compete on the LIV circuit are currently banned for life from the PGA Tour.
The AT&T will be the second of eight Elevated Events and the fifth PGA Tour event of the 2024 season. The tournament’s $20 million purse will match the purses at all the LIV events in 2022 and 2023.
“It will transform and set the future direction of the PGA Tour,” Jay Monahan, the circuit’s commissioner said last June when he announced the format changes. “Over the last year, we have spent a massive amount of time exploring how to better position the PGA Tour for continued growth.”
Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 who won two of his 23 PGA Tour events and led the year-end money list with a record $21,014,32 in 2023, hasn’t yet committed to the AT&T.
But Rory McIlroy, the four-time major winner, has committed and will be joined by defending titlist Justin Rose, Wyndham Clark, Jason Day and Tommy Fleetwood as well as Fitzpatrick, Hovland and Spieth.
“It’s a field we’ve never seen before, the best of the best,” said John. “We’ve had strong fields in the past, but because it’s a Signature Event, there’s no reason they would skip it. If there was an obstacle, it’s been removed. Some pros, the schedule didn’t fit. I’m pretty sure a Signature Event is going to fit for them now.”
The AT&T winner next year will earn $3.6 million or 18 percent of the purse. Rose earned $1.62 million of the $9 million purse this year. John said AT&T, which assumed title sponsorship in 1998, is paying for the $11 million purse increase.
“We’re still doing a pro-am; we’re true to our roots,” said John. “We’re doing two days instead of four and we’ll celebrate the champion Friday night and the professionals only for the weekend. If you’re a golf fan you’ve just checked every box for Pebble Beach on Saturday and Sunday.
“Eighty pros, no cut, playing Pebble Beach and many, many for the first time. So from the fans’ perspective, it probably won’t get any better in terms of golf quality.”
The AT&T’s practice rounds Monday and Tuesday will be closed to the public. Wednesday’s practice session will be open at Pebble Beach only. Spectators can attend Thursday and Friday at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill.
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