PGA: Tiger Woods Will Make 2012 U. S. Debut at Pebble Beach

The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am will be held this week on the Monterey Peninsula.  Bing Crosby won’t be there but the Pros and a host of A-List celebrities will be.  Even Tiger Woods will be on hand for the festivities.

Tiger skipped Torrey Pines and made his first appearance of 2012 in Abu Dhabi.  He collected a large fee, played fairly well, and collected third place money, finishing behind winner Robert Rock and runner-up Rory McIlroy.

Tiger has had a fair amount of success at the famed Pebble Beach.  He had two wins there in 2000: the AT&T in February and the U. S. Open in June.  In the 2000 U. S. Open he was the only player to finish under par (-12) for the week.  Woods finished 15 shots ahead of second place finisher, Ernie Els (+3).  It was one of the all-time great performances in a major championship event.

The pros are paired with an amateur partner for the first three rounds and Dallas Cowboy Quarterback, Tony Romo, will be paired with Woods.  Romo is a scratch golfer, making it through first round qualifying for the 2011 U. S. Open and has played practice rounds with Woods before.

Coming off of his strong finish in 2011, there are high expectations for Woods this year.  In November, he posted three good rounds in the Australian Open, performed well in the Presidents Cup and won the Chevron in December.

After Pebble Beach, Woods will most likely play in the WGC-Accenture Match Play before the tour moves to Florida in March. 

The WGC-Cadillac from Doral and The Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill will give him plenty of reps to be ready for Augusta the first week in April.

Will we see Tiger get back on track in 2012 to surpass Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 major titles?