I know it was Saturday night on the East Coast, so many thanks to those who took the time to submit questions and/or actually watched the live-stream.

Good news is you can always check it out later if you were busy with fun weekend activities (and I hope many of you were).

One thing: I made a mistake during the Hangout. Apologies to Jesse. For some reason — even though I knew he shot 68 — I thought Snedeker broke his streak of rounds in the 60s. In 15 of his last 16 rounds, Snedeker has scored in the 60s. His lone over-par round in that stretch was in the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open when he posted a three-over 75.

Eyeing a win after finishing runner-up to Tiger and Phil the last two weeks

There’s a name that’s been gracing the first page of the leaderboard who is tied for the 54-hole lead: Brandt Snedeker, who finished runner-up the last two weeks to Tiger Woods (Farmers Insurance Open) and Phil Mickelson (Waste Management Phoenix Open), respectively. PGA Tour rookie James Hahn birdied his last three holes at Spyglass (the hardest of the three venues) to fire a six-under 66 and tie Snedeker for the lead at 12-under through 54 holes.

Good news for Snedeker – Mickelson, who triple-bogeyed the 18th at Pebble Beach today after knocking two in the water (if you haven’t seen the GIF of his slip, then here’s a link), made the cut on the number (one-under), so he’s not a threat. And Tiger isn’t in the field. (continue reading…)

Yes, that is indeed Bill Murray, sporting an interesting beard!

Of course that’s a reference to Bill Murray’s facial hair. The Pebble Beach National Pro-Am regular is making a scene, per usual. He’s partnered up with D.A. Points, who won the event in 2011 — the pair were also victorious in the pro-am portion of the tournament.

Murray and Points played at Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore Course on Thursday, and posted a team effort of five-under 65, putting them in a tie for 51st after the opening round.

Here’s a closer shot of Murray’s beard: (continue reading…)

The Westwoods: Father-son bonding

The first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am kicked off this morning at the three different venues: Pebble Beach Golf Links, SpyGlass Hill Golf Course and Monterey Peninsula Country Club, Shore Course. Rookie Henrik Norlander is off to a fast start — he’s five-under through 11 at Pebble. Hunter Mahan is five-under through nine holes at Pebble. So is Matt Every, who has three holes to play.

There are some tidbits from the pre-tourney festivities that I wanted to share before we get into the tournament. (As you may have read in previous posts or tweets, I don’t have internet at the motel I’m staying at this week, so good news is I can’t work once I leave the media center, and bad news is I can’t work once I leave. Ah well — life goes on.)

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Oh my goodness: Deer antler spray is a banned substance?!? I plead ignorance.

In light of admitting to using deer antler spray that may contain IGF-1, a banned substance, Vijay Singh and PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem met on Wednesday afternoon at Pebble Beach.

According to GolfChannel.com, a member of Singh’s management team described reviews of the meeting as “mixed,” but wouldn’t elaborate further.  (continue reading…)

Phil wins, with a little help from Amy

Phil Mickelson was moping around the Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore Course, posting a ho-hum even par on his first nine (the back) in the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Then, the sunny skies from the morning turned to overcast skies and eventually rain, which hadn’t been in the forecast, started to fall steadily (and annoyingly) on his second nine.

About the same time the weather rolled in, Mickelson, who hasn’t been known for his prowess in wet and windy conditions, experienced a change in his mood and game, which eventually led to his splendid eight-under 64 in Sunday’s final round to cruise to the winner’s circle for the fourth time at Pebble Beach.

Amy Mickelson, his wife, flew in on Friday morning and lifted her husband’s spirits — and his game — with her bright smile and positive energy, along with a few words of support when she showed up on the 3rd tee at MPCC. (continue reading…)

Playing a practice round on Monday at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Daniel Chopra made a hole-in-one on the par-3 7th and then another on the par-3 17th. Rookie Richard H. Lee announced the incredible feat via Twitter in the above screenshot. (I’d feel lucky just to have been a witness.)

All I’ve gotta say? Um, WOW! That’s unbelievably amazing — those are two of the sweetest par-3s in golf! And to ace them both in one day?! No way! (continue reading…)

What to expect from Tiger?

After last night Tiger Woods is 0-1 in 2012. Well, if you count his team losing to Rickie Fowler’s at the Fiesta Bowl. Tiger was named honorary captain and coin-toss flipper on behalf of Stanford’s squad. Fowler served the same duties for Oklahoma State’s football team. In a thrilling game with an exciting (or heartbreaking) ending, the Cowboys beat the Cardinals.

Meanwhile, Tiger told the AP in an email that he’s finally 100% healthy, so he’s super stoked: (continue reading…)

Welcome to Balls in the Air, where I size up my Fantasy Golf picks of the week, featuring guys to watch (or not) and interesting story lines. Disclaimer: My picks may suck, but I do think through the factors that may weigh in.

Keegan Bradley really likes playing in pro-ams

Apologies for not posting the column at the usual time, but I was too busy icing my ankle. I did make my picks before the deadline. With hindsight, they’re not the best, except my Group C players are lighting it up. Pebble Beach is one of my favorite places in the world and I’ve actually played all three of the courses in the rotation. Don’t ask me to pick a favorite, though! I wish I were in beautiful Monterey instead of nursing my ankle in icy NYC (which is a terrible place to navigate in crutches — I keep worrying I’m going to slip and hurt my good foot).

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Besides playing a few of America’s greatest courses at the Lexus Champions for Charity event in Pebble Beach last week, I had the opportunity to talk with two-time major champion and NBC talking head, Johnny Miller.

I had so many questions — was Ian Poulter still mad at him for saying he was a poor ballstriker? Was Phil Mickelson upset at the comment he made at the Ryder Cup? Who are the game’s biggest chokers? Will Tiger break Jack Nicklaus’ record?

What was supposed to be a ten-minute chat, quickly turned into twenty-nine very interesting and entertaining minutes. It was fascinating to pick Johnny’s mind about almost anything that crossed my mind, and get a trademark Johnny Miller no-BS answer.

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