Mercury News Trust Jim Malmquist and Bill Corell.
They know the best day of the week to come to Pebble Beach for the AT&T National Pro-Am. It’s not for today’s opening round, or even Sunday’s final round. It’s Wednesday — before the real tournament even starts. The crowds are thinner. The celebrities seem less rattled by the frustrations of aiming a little white ball at a small hole hundreds of yards away. And during the five-hole celebrity shootout, you may even get to share your prosciutto and melon with rocker Huey Lewis. Or hear comedian Bill Murray shout out a tribute to John Denver. Or get sentimental about those memorable brushes with Mr. Pebble Beach himself, Bing Crosby. “It’s a perfect setting for a picnic, and there just happens to be a golf tournament going on. I forget the name. I think it’s called the Crosby or something like that,” quipped Malmquist, 39, an East Bay software salesman who has been coming to the tournament with his wife and friends for 14 years. Malquist is a newcomer compared to Corell, 65, a retired agricultural consultant from Lodi who has been coming here for four decades. He hasn’t missed one in 32 years. And to him the tournament will always be “The Crosby.” As always, Malmquist, Corell and their crew set up their picnic blanket on the fairway of Pebble’s iconic 18th hole, where they could hear waves lapping the rocky shore and watch a stream of celebrities passing by.
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