PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The vision the PGA Tour has sought for three years finally arrived at the 7th tee box at Pebble Beach shortly before noon on Saturday.
And it looked dreadful.
The leaders arrived at the tee box as endless sheets of white rainfall and deafening wind pelted the coast, their bodies angled against the gusts like pilings against the tide. After a week in the low-50s, the temperature out on the point had dipped into the 30s, prompting CBS on-course reporter Dottie Pepper to wonder if last week’s international ski competition was warmer.
The few fans who bothered to stick around on the 7th until Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and Rasmus Hojgaard arrived were no longer diehards, they were fools. And if they stayed out in the cold any longer, they’d be lucky if stupidity was their only affliction.