At the AT&T Crosby Weather and contented golfers

PEBBLE BEACH — The name changes, but conditions never do. It’s been the AT&T for years now, but it’s still Crosby weather—where you need an umbrella and patience as much as you need an accurate drive off the tee at 18.

Play started Thursday following a Wednesday downpour, followed by sunshine and an understandable acceptance of what is possible before Sunday’s scheduled conclusion.

Chris Gotterup, who won the WM Phoenix Open a few days ago in desert resort conditions, was willing to accept whatever he would face at Pebble Beach. 

“This is one of the only places all year where if it’s raining,” Gotterup insisted, “you’re still pretty happy to be here.” 

He got no disagreement from Tommy Fleetwood, the Englishman who last year won the PGA Tour Championship.

“No, it doesn’t bother me,” Fleetwood said about the wet and chill. “Just like (Wednesday), you can be getting hailed on for five minutes, and it could be sunshine straight after that. I would still much rather play in 80 degrees and sunshine, but if it doesn’t—whatever the challenge is, then you’re here to play in whatever the weather is.” 

Maybe too much is made about temperature in the 50’s as opposed to scores in the 60’s, but in the end, the guys who can handle whatever is out there in the atmosphere as well as on the greens end up as winners.

At the AT&T, that list includes Rory McIlroy last year; Phil Mickelson and Mark O’Meara, who each won five times; Tiger Woods; and, of course, Jack Nicklaus. It was Jack’s very personal and self-assured belief that the worse the weather, the better the opportunity for the most competent player.

These days, there is a surplus of elite golfers of every age — Justin Rose is 45 — and from every corner of the globe, from Tommy Fleetwood to Hideki Matsuyama and others from Japan, along with Americans like Scottie Scheffler. They are all in this AT&T, which is like the old Crosby with fewer wisecracks and considerably fewer celebrities—but still has rounds at both Pebble and Spyglass Hill.  

“It is unpredictable,” said Fleetwood. He is 31 and, after success on the European Tour, finally got a victory in the U.S. at the crowning event of the PGA Tour. 

“It is exciting to have won the FedExCup and reached a position in the world ranking I had never been to before,” Fleetwood said. 

That would be fourth behind, in order, Scheffler, McIlroy, and Rose—and one notch ahead of the fifth-ranked Gotterup.

Not many people were aware of Gotterup, who is 26 and from New Jersey, until he burst onto the scene last year, winning the Scottish Open and then a week later finishing third at Royal Porthcawl in the British Open.

Gotterup has a rare understanding of his place. “You literally for one week reach the pinnacle of the sport,” sighed Gotterup, “and then it’s like an hour later you’re packing your bags and making sure you’ve got everything and don’t leave anything behind. I think it’s a nice reality check after a big win.” 

All he’s left behind recently is a trail of success. And maybe a needed umbrella.