Murray’s Back! ‘And That’s A Fact Jack!’ Pebble Beach Pro-Am Starts Thursday

Bill’s back, and so are many of golf’s top professionals.

Gallery favorite Bill Murray heads a list of 180 amateurs, while Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson, Paul Azinger, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zoeller and defending champion Johnny Miller pace 180 pros in the $1.4 million AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Thursday (Groundhog Day) through Sunday on the Monterey Peninsula.

Murray, whose on-course antics and irreverent style have angered some, notably Watson and former PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman, returns for the fourth consecutive year. Love him or hate him, Murray has injected much-needed color and humor into the event and is endorsed by Miller, actor/AT&T golf foundation chairman Clint Eastwood and tournament director Lou Russo, among others.

“I’m glad to see Bill back,” said Miller, who played behind him the first three rounds last year. “Maybe forget the dancing in the bunker.”

Added Eastwood, “Nobody has refused to play with Bill. I think it’s great for golf. He adds a lot to the tournament.”

Murray, a 16-handicapper, will again team with 1987 U.S. Open champ Scott Simpson. Also slated for their foursome are Chicago Cubs first baseman Mark Grace and pro Jeff Sluman.

Musician Kenny G, actor Jeff Daniels and Pebble Beach president Tom Oliver will make their pro-am debuts. Also teeing it up are Eastwood, Jack Lemmon, Huey Lewis, George Bush, Nathaniel Crosby, Jimmy Connors, Don Johnson, Rudy Gatlin, Vince Gill, Bryant Gumbel, Joe Pesci, John Denver, Julius Erving, Frank Dill, Maury Povich, Dan Quayle, Alan Shephard, Tommy Smothers and Danny Sullivan.

The pro field, seeking a first prize of $252,000 and a wheelbarrow full of Waterford Crystal, also includes four-time winner Mark O’Meara, Chip Beck, Mark Calcavecchia, John Cook, Ben Crenshaw, Steve Elkington, David Feherty, Jim Gallagher Jr., Hale Irwin, Peter Jacobsen, Lee Janzen, Tom Lehman, Davis Love III, Jeff Maggert, Larry Mize, Loren Roberts, Corey Pavin, Vijay Singh, Mike Springer, Craig Stadler, Payne Stewart, Dave Stockton, Hal Sutton and Duffy Waldorf.

Notable absentees are Nick Price, Fred Couples, John Daly and Greg Norman.

Miller, who also won the tournament in 1974 and 1987, outdueled Watson last year in a battle of long-time rivals. Also a talented broadcaster for NBC, Miller is disappointed several of golf’s elite continue to pass up the event, which is contested at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill and NCGA-owned Poppy Hills.

“Any time you win at Pebble Beach, it’s pretty exciting,” said Miller. “I just hope the real men show up.”

In addition to Mickelson, other rising stars entered include Dudley Hart, who contended last year; David Duval, Jim Furyk, Scott Gump, Mike Heinen, Brian Henninger, Justin Leonard, Jim McGovern, Jesper Parnevik and Dave Stockton Jr.

All three courses remain saturated by rain and were closed last week.

“The courses are much better than most people would imagine,” said R.J. Harper, director of golf for Pebble Beach Company. “There’s no standing water anywhere.”

A Monterey television station erroneously reported that the tournament had been called off.

“They canceled play for the public, not the tournament,”said Russo. “The forecast that I’ve got looks good. We’re in a go mode.”

Even if weather improves, the lift, clean and place rule will probably be used. That means players can clean their golf balls and improve lies in their own fairways.

Most forecasts are promising, although Harper admitted, “Three days of sunshine are not going to dry the place out. We’re going back to the old days where weather was the talk of the town.”