Mercury News Columnist Guess which golfer broke into a chorus from “Sound Of Music” on the 18th green Thursday And then instructed his playing
partner before a putt: “Imagine you’re escaping from the Nazis and drop it in the hole, OK” Hint: It wasn’t Phil Mickelson. “This crowd needs a thrill,” Bill Murray proclaimed on the 11th fairway at Spyglass Hill Golf Course — shortly after he had “borrowed” a full Bloody Mary from a fan behind the ropes and shortly before he had confronted a female spectator wearing wild polka dot pants and told her in a zombie voice: “I am under your power.” Praise be the golf deities. Just when a traumatized nation needs him more than ever, Murray has returned to the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am after last year’s mysterious absence. Murray has been a tournament fixture since 1992. He’d missed one previous time because of a filming commitment. But a year ago, there was no such explanation. He simply didn’t show up.
This gave rise to many scurrilous rumors. One was that Murray had come to hate the Pebble scene. Another was that he’d become jealous of the way comedian George Lopez was attempting to become the alpha male funnyman of the tournament. Yeah, right. Murray must worry about that every minute of every day.