PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) – Ernie Els returned to Spyglass Hill for nine holes of practice at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and nothing looked familiar to him.
Of course, there’s a reason for that.
Els had not been to Spyglass since he was 14. He came over to the Monterey Peninsula in 1984 to play with his father before heading south to San Diego to compete in the Junior World Championship, which the South African won over a local kid named Phil Mickelson.
Mickelson has played the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am the last 20 years, winning four times. Lefty is having to skip this year because his kids are on spring break. In his place is Els, who doesn’t have many good memories around these parts.
His other appearance at the PGA Tour stop was in 1996. That was the year a relentless rain from El Nino pounded Pebble Beach to the point the tournament was canceled after 36 holes.