Three Former Ryder Cup Captains Headed to Poppy Hills for The First Tee Open
September 8, 2014
There’ll be a Ryder Cup flavor at this year’s Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.
Former U.S. captains Ben Crenshaw (1999), Tom Lehman (2006) and Davis Love III (2008) are among the Champions Tour field that will compete in the upcoming Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, slated to be held the weekend of Sept. 26-28. This year’s Ryder Cup will be held the same weekend at Gleneagles in Scotland.
Love, whose 20 career wins on the PGA TOUR includes two on the Monterey Peninsula – the 2001 and 2003 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Ams – is playing in only his second event on the Champions Tour and first Nature Valley First Tee Open, where the tour pros are paired with a junior golfer representing chapters of The First Tee from around the country.
Back in February, Love III hinted that he’d play in the First Tee Open.
“Pebble in September always looks nice, and you’ve got Hawaii (the second-year Pacific Links Hawaii Championship is held the week prior to the First Tee Open) right there,” Love said.
Love was a six-time member of U.S. Ryder Cup Teams, as well as the 2010 Assistant Captain.
Crenshaw, who has one career win at Pebble Beach–the 1976 Bing Crosby Pro-Am– also won The First Tee Open’s Pro-Junior team competition in 2011. Crenshaw was Ryder Cup Captain for the famous USA comeback victory in Brookline, Mass., where his team won 8½ points in the Sunday singles matches to capture the cup by one point in thrilling fashion. Crenshaw played in four Ryder Cup events, all won by the USA.
Lehman played in three Ryder Cups and was undefeated in all three singles matches. His one win on the Peninsula was in the 1998 Callaway Pebble Beach Invitational, a non-tour event. After meeting his future wife Melissa at the 1984 Crosby Pro-Am, they returned to Pebble Beach for their wedding.
The Nature Valley First Tee Open is a benefit for The First Tee, a nonprofit youth development organization successfully utilizing the game of golf and its inherent values to help young people build character and learn the life skills required for success on and off the golf course.
The tournament is hosted by Monterey Peninsula Foundation, which also stages the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, an event that has generated more than $120 million for charity since 1937.
Clint Eastwood is chairman of the Nature Valley First Tee Open and Arnold Palmer is honorary co-chair. Play will be conducted on both courses Friday and Saturday and at Pebble Beach only on Sunday. All three rounds will be broadcast on the Golf Channel.
As a gift back to the community, Monterey Peninsula Foundation and Nature Valley are providing free tournament admission.
-Jerry Stewart
