Tour moves to end Pebble Beach gridlock

It is a move that is long overdue, but give the PGA Tour and the Monterey Peninsula Foundation credit for taking a necessary step to end gridlock at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

The Monterey County Herald is reporting that the entities jointly announced that they were reducing the size of the field from 180 pros to 156, which effectively takes 48 players (24 pros and their 24 amateur partners) off the three golf courses -- Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula Country Club (the latter having replaced Poppy Hills in the rota).

It should help ease the congestion (and six-hour rounds) that has beleaguered the tournament and contributed to the deterioration in the quality of the field.

-- John Strege