Tebow/Tiger pairing at Pebble may be just a promoter’s pipedream

Tony Romo may be out of the NFL playoff picture, but it looks as if the Dallas Cowboys QB -- and not sports’ new super-hero, Tim Tebow -- remains the odds-on favorite to team with Tiger Woods at next month’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Rumors were rampant Thursday after the Global Golf Post tipped that the Denver Broncos signal-caller was in the running to be Woods’ playing partner in the event that teams top tour pros with Hollywood celebrities, athletes, musicians, and other 99 percenters for a $6.4 million purse. For sure, Tebow has an open invitation to bring his mammoth arms and 350-yard drives to the Pebble party, but a report that he would tee it up with Tiger was news to tourney organizers.

"I’ve never heard that one," Ollie Nutt, president and chief executive of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, told us Friday. "Someone asked me about that yesterday but that was the first I’d heard of it."

Tim Tebow hits from a bunker during last year's Honda Classic pro-am (Photo: Allen Eyestone/AP, The Palm Beach Post)

Nutt and his team have been chatting with Tebow’s representatives for about a month. But America’s favorite athlete has been otherwise occupied with his day job, which included last week’s stunning overtime win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in an NFL wild-card game.

"He has an invitation; I think he knows that," Nutt said. "We have been awaiting an answer and we haven’t received one, partly because he keeps playing.

"We thought, if Denver loses to Pittsburgh, we’ll hear from him," added Nutt, who would clearly enjoy a response from football’s rising star as soon as possible.

Should Tebow lead his team to an upset over the New England Patriots in Saturday night’s divisional playoff game, there’s no telling when Nutt would receive an RSVP. Conversely, a loss this weekend would end the football season for Tebow, who would presumably have room on his schedule for a friendly round or two (after the Saturday night cut, the leading 60 professionals and 25 pro-am teams play Sunday for the championship) at Pebble, Spyglass Hill, and MPCC Shore Course.

So, does that mean that Nutt’s become a huge Tom Brady fan?

"I’ll stay unbiased on that one," he said with a laugh.

As for Tiger’s potential partner, Nutt boosted Romo’s chances for that slot.

"They’ve played together before in the AT&T National," said Nutt, referring to the Wednesday pro-am the duo teamed up for in 2009 at Congressional Country Club.

Meanwhile, the official tee sheet for the Pebble bout won’t be available until the Tuesday before the event. "We’ll start working on it in about a week and start firming it up," said Nutt.