By Sarah Jane Amoroso

I was standing at the first tee of the Pebble Beach Golf Links, wearing my own Salt Lake City 2002 hat (copy cat!), awaiting David’s 9:20 tee time, when I noticed Matt standing outside of the Pro Shop. I walked up to him and said hello. We chatted, and I handed him the photos I had taken of him with Arnold Palmer. He was thrilled, and then I showed him the photo of David with the little boy, Matt, taken in Palm Springs. Matt then volunteered that he and David were both exhausted because they had had to drive up from Valencia after working late, as it was too late to catch a commercial flight. They arrived in Pebble Beach at around 2:30am, and got lost on the 17 Mile Drive, which is not difficult to do in the daytime, so at night - with no street lights - it is downright easy to get lost!

Then they had to get up just a few hours later to make their tee time, and you can imagine their exhaustion. Matt commented that David was (again) paired with a virtual unknown, a Buy.com tour player from Australia, named Michael Long. But at least Michael was able to hold his own and kept within sight of par throughout the tournament.

Then David walked up to us and Matt, who was still holding the photos, showed David the pictures with little Matt and told David I wanted to get one signed to send to the child. I handed David a Sharpie, and David signed the photo. Then I left them alone to make any final preparations for their round.

When I first learned of David’s pairing and tee times, I was a little disappointed that, again, David was not on the “Celebrity Rotation” – playing Poppy Hills, Spyglass Hill and Pebble Beach on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, respectively. That meant he would probably not have much TV time, which was lousy for the people watching at home. But, on the other hand, it is great for crowd control. Since David was not on the same course as Tiger Woods, et al, he was not surrounded by crowds of thousands of people.

David’s foursome also consisted of Tommy Smothers, of Smothers Brothers fame, and his pro partner, Bob Heintz. Tommy entertained us first thing every morning with Yo-yo tricks, and everyone enjoyed his antics.

Thursday at Pebble Beach was peaceful, quiet and cool during the 18 holes – a good-sized gallery of about 40 people following David and Michael. The gallery starts out large, gets smaller as you get farther out on the course (where fewer people are inclined to walk) and larger again as you return toward the clubhouse. There were always people asking for autographs, but not nearly as many as in Palm Springs.

Friday morning, 8:30, Poppy Hills Golf Course, and more of the same cool weather. About 40 people following the foursome and we had entertainment via Tommy’s Yo-yo for starters. Nobody played really well that day, but by the end of the day they were hovering near even par as a team.

On Saturday morning we arrived early to watch Don Bellisario tee off at 9:10, follow him around for a few holes, and then watch David tee off at 10:10. This was the only day David and Don were on the same course. We waited right up until the 9:10 tee off, and never saw Don. We wandered over to the driving range, and David, Matt and Nanci were there. I greeted Nanci and asked her if she had any idea why Don had not shown up and she didn’t know. Matt didn’t know, either, so we were just hoping it wasn’t something serious. (We found out later he had the ‘flu.)

I had brought some photos of David I had taken at Pebble Beach, so I gave them to Nanci. She ended up following the foursome for the first nine holes, but then left and did not return.

No one was playing well, and by the time they reached the 16th tee on Saturday afternoon, Matt walked up to the white tees and set David’s bag down and asked me, “What hole is this?” At that point, I knew he was tired. David was not playing well, and when I told Matt they had three holes left to finish, Matt suggested he was like a horse heading for the barn. He just wanted to go HOME! I asked if they were leaving that night, and he said, “No, I wish we were – we are spending the night and leaving first thing in the morning.” Matt then told us he was still in the running at the state amateurs golf tournament, and we wished him good luck.

When we arrived at the 18th green, we were happy to see that there was practically nobody around. When the foursome had holed out, they all shook hands and said goodbye. As David was walking off the green he saw someone he wanted to say goodbye to. When he walked past us on the way back to the exit, he saw us, and stopped. We shook hands and I said, “It was fun.” My friend said, “See you next year!” and David said, “I don’t know about next year!” and I said, “See you next time!” And he agreed with that.

Sarah Jane's pictures of DJE at AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

Related interview DJE at AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am