The name of the tournament, the golf courses involved, the number of players competing and fickle weather provide plenty of annual changes at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The annual event’s one consistency, at least for the past 40 years, has been its title sponsor. And it will remain.
Absent of financial details or any other terms, the telecommunications company’s title sponsorship extension was announced Tuesday.
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The renewal was a joint release by the PGA Tour, Pebble Beach Company, the owners of the tournament’s host course, and the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, tournament organizers.
“We are honored to extend with our longest-running title sponsor in AT&T, a committed supporter of Monterey Peninsula Foundation and Pebble Beach Company for four decades,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan in the press release. “A legacy event on our PGA Tour schedule, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am holds a special place in the hearts of golf fans everywhere, and we are delighted to see this historic championship retain its association with AT&T.”
While not detailed in the extension announcement, the AT&T will return in 2026 for its third season as a Signature Event.
Next year’s pending 80th edition on the Peninsula, will be held at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course beginning Feb. 12. It will be contested two weeks later than this year’s tournament won by Rory McIlroy.
AT&T is the PGA Tour’s longest-running continuous title sponsor.
“Golf and giving are central to Monterey Peninsula Foundation’s mission, and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am continues to be the cornerstone of our charitable giving,” said Steve John, Monterey Peninsula Foundation CEO and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am tournament director, in the press release. “We’re deeply grateful to AT&T for its ongoing commitment and support, which drive our ability to give back.”
Since its debut on the Monterey Peninsula in 1947, the tournament has featured a wide-ranging, large field of professionals and celebrities who played and frolicked as entertainer Bing Crosby initiated in 1937 in Rancho Santa Fe.
The event moved to the Monterey Peninsula in 1947 after a four-year WWII hiatus and was held on three courses. Since its Peninsula debut, the tournament has been played on six different courses and it has had five different names. Its current title sponsor arrived in 1986.
While the AT&T had many years of top fields including World Golf Hall of Fame winners, it has also had lean years. Justin Rose ended a four-year PGA Tour drought to win the 2023 event when the tournament included only three of the top 20 and 21 of the world’s top 100 players.
For the 2024 event and with the financial compensation paid to several top players in fledgling Saudi-back LIV circuit, AT&T dispatched its history. It dropped the celebrity pro-am competition and celebrity mini-events and accepted its current status.
The long-standing 156-player or 144-player fields, third-round cut and three-course rotation were also gone. Instead, an 80-player, no-cut format was adopted with a $20 million purse.
Throughout the AT&T’s association with the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, many PGA Tour events have departed, others have changed corporate sponsors.Farmers Insurance started its title sponsorship in 2010 but will end its commitment after the 2026 Farmers Insurance Open, the PGA Tour event in late January. Shriners, the hospital titlist sponsor of the Shriners Children’s Open since 2007, ended its deal after the 2024 event in Las Vegas. Honda announced it was ending its sponsorship of the Honda Classic for the 2023 event after 42 years.
But new sponsorships have also arrived, including extension deals with Valspar and 3M earlier this year.
“At AT&T, we are incredibly proud to continue our partnership with the PGA Tour, Monterey Peninsula Foundation and the Pebble Beach Company as the title sponsor of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am,” said John Stankey, chairman and CEO of AT&T in the press release. “For four decades, this tournament has been a cornerstone of our commitment to excellence and community impact, blending the beauty of golf with a purpose that extends far beyond the course.
“We look forward to creating unforgettable moments for fans, players, and the communities we serve, in one of golf’s most iconic tournaments, played on one of the world’s best courses.”