PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Taylor Swift boosted ticket sales to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am without even being there.
Pebble Beach had an extra buzz Friday morning with rumors swirling in the cool Pacific breeze Swift would be there to watch her fiancé, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, playing in the PGA Tour event that combines corporate CEOs and celebrities with golf's best.
Alas, Swifties, it was just another pretty day at Pebble Beach.
“It was busy without her,” said Mackenzie Hughes, who played in the group. “With her, I think it would have literally been pandemonium.”
It still was good news for the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, which runs the event. Tournament Director Steve John said when Kelce was announced as playing in the pro-am, more than $60,000 in tickets were sold over the next 12 hours.
Swift is rumored to be in town. But she was not at Spyglass Hill on Thursday, where Kelce was playing with pro partner Keith Mitchell along with Hughes and retired NFL quarterback Alex Smith.
No matter. Pebble Beach is the main attraction, and John said some $21,000 tickets for the second round were sold between 6:30 p.m. Thursday and 6:30 a.m. Friday, two hours before Kelce played.
More than 1,000 spectators lined the left side of the first fairway at Pebble Beach, but all they saw was Kelce hitting his tee shot to the right, into and out of the trees, and along the cart path (he made a par).
Sure, there was plenty of Chiefs gear in the crowd, one young girl wearing a Kansas City sweatshirt. The tournament has a long history of athletes over the years, including Ken Griffey Jr. playing in a group with Tiger Woods some 20 years ago, Aaron Rodgers and Roger Clemens, who once made a hole-in-one.
This, however, was clearly a Swift moment. Except that it wasn't.
John and his tournament staff left nothing to chance. When he wasn't busy responding to text messages — will she be there or not? — he had plans in place for security, for transportation across the course, even a secure suite overlooking the 18th green.
Even when it was clear Swift was not at Pebble Beach, the tunnel leading from the 18th green to the scoring area included CBS announcer Jim Nantz and CBS Sports president David Berson. Nantz, whose network has the AFC, shared a long chat with Kelce and arranged for a few photos.
Kelce chose not to stop for interviews. Hughes, who described himself as a fringe Swiftie, said it was a treat to play with Kelce, whom he described as a “great personality, great vibe.”
“He even said it hasn't always been this way,” Hughes said of so much attention on Swift. “But since they're now engaged it's like, ‘My life has changed a little bit.’ Even for him to say that, that's pretty telling. He's already a pretty big star.”
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