This doesn't matter much to me, because I don't care for watching the celebrity ams at PGA Tour events anyway. But to many fans, a big reason for watching Pebble Beach is to watch Bill Murray.

But Bill's not going to be there this year. He's filming a movie in Ireland. (Don't race through downtown Dublin in any golf carts, Bill.)

Also pulling out of Pebble Beach were the Patriots' Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick. Brady has an injured ankle that got him out of the Pro Bowl; perhaps he thought it best not push his luck with the NFL by showing up at Pebble Beach after bailing on the Pro Bowl.

Belichick? Word is he's still on the run ...

The Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is one of those rare tournaments that thrives without Tiger Woods. Woods hates the greens at Pebble and likely will never play here again except when the U.S. Open visits (or until the greens are re-sodded). He last played the Pro-Am in 2002. But nearly every year since, the tournament has set new attendance records.

The lure of Pebble Beach itself, plus the lure of in-person celebrity watching, is strong enough to withstand the Woods snub.