Pebble Beach Pro-am:Padraig Harrington, normally to be found in Asia at this early stage of the season, is trying something different this time - and trying for a notable double.
Having won the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews last October with JP McManus as his partner, Harrington has linked up with him again for the Pebble Beach Pro-am in California.
He is joined in the field by Paul McGinley and Ryder Cup team-mate Luke Donald.
Refreshed after a three-week break, Donald will be able to draw on stirring memories this week, as he equalled the course record at Spyglass Hill with a 10-under-par 62 in the opening round of last year's tournament, his lowest score as a professional.
Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh are among the other big names in the field, but there will be no defending champion, because Arron Oberholser is still recovering from the back injury which forced him out after one round of the Mercedes Championship in Hawaii last month.
Oberholser, currently 50th in the world, is a doubt for the Accenture Matchplay in Tucson in a fortnight.
That is restricted to the top 64 available players, and with next Monday's ranking the cut-off point, McGinley, at 82nd, needs a big week to qualify.
National Pro-Am
Venues:Pebble Beach, Poppy Hills, Spyglass Hill.
On TV:Setanta Sports (8pm, live)
Winner's cheque:$972,000.
Length (PB):6,799 yards Par 72
Defending champion:Aaron Oberholser.
Did You Know?:Among the celebrities taking part are Andy Garcia (actor), Michael Bolton (singer), Bill Murray (actor), Huey Lewis (musician), Tom Brady (New England Patriots quarterback), Kelly Slater (world champion surfer) and Kevin Costner (actor).
The real winners of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am are the hundreds of non-profit organisations which benefit from the proceeds of the tournament. To date, over $60 million to date has been raised and distributed through AT&T Pebble Beach Charities.
