January 14, 2021 (Reuters)
The Pebble Beach Pro-Am will be played next month without the traditional pro-am part of the tournament, the PGA Tour announced Thursday.
The decision was made because of the spike of COVID-19 cases within California. It already had been announced that the Feb. 11-14 tournament would be played without spectators on the course.
“This was a very difficult decision, but the right one given the recent surge in COVID-19 cases,” said Bill Perocchi, chief executive officer of the Pebble Beach Co. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have put the health and safety of our guests, employees and community first.”
The multi-day pro-am is an annual highlight of the Pebble Beach stop and has featured athletes, entertainers, politicians and other celebrities through the years. The 2020 event included Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Peyton Manning, Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers; actors Ray Romano and Bill Murray; hockey great Wayne Gretzky; and Condoleezza Rice, former secretary of state.
Past competitors included entertainer Bob Hope, presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio.
“The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am’s lineup of celebrities competing with the PGA TOUR’s best players with the Monterey Peninsula as the backdrop has been a perfect marriage of sports and entertainment since 1947,” said Tyler Dennis, president of the PGA Tour. “We feel strongly this decision, while difficult, was the right call to make given the current environment.”
