Feb. 11, 2008 -- So we come to the conclusion of another AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. But this one has to go down as one of the best of all time. With perfect weather, the course in spectacular shape, and drama that included a birdie on the 72nd hole and a sudden death playoff, this year's tournament will set the benchmark for many tournaments to come for sheer excitement and success.

First of all, there will be much talk about Vijay Singh giving this tournament away. I don't think that is totally fair. As disappointed as I am sure he is in his back nine on Sunday, he still shot a one-under 71 and made a great birdie on the final hole. He may not have played as well as he would have liked, but he played well enough to win -- if not for Steve Lowery and his heroics.

Former Univ. of Florida stars Chris DiMarco and Emmitt Smith help each other get the read. (WireImage.com)

But because of the unique format of this tournament, I'd like to base this week's A Lesson Learned on what makes this tournament unique; the amateurs playing. Because I work here in Pebble Beach at one of the host courses (Poppy Hills), I am fortunate that I get to see the PGA Tour players each year, but also how amateur players play and react when paired up with the best in the world. And keep in mind, it's not just any amateur players, but many are high-profile celebrities such as Kevin Costner, Carson Daly, Kenny G., Andy Garcia and many, many others.

Just a quick note for some people who may not know the history of this event, but you might often hear people refer to this tournament as the Crosby or the Clam Bake, as in Bing Crosby, who started this event by inviting friends from Hollywood to come up and play annually. Obviously, what a great event it has become and people in this area often still refere to it as The Crosby. I was at the tournament Friday and had a chance to see Mrs. Crosby -- and what a thrill to see the history of the event standing next to me.

Okay, so back to our Lesson Learned. Or, Lessons Learned I should say. First of all, I had a chance to give a lesson to one of the celebrities that appeared this year. As I listened to him talk about his golf swing and what he found wrong with it, I noticed something pretty obvious. Now, as a teacher I know very well not to get very deep with something new, but I went to a basic thought which helped him right away -- timing. He was a little fast with his arms and we made a fix quickly -- and he went on to have a good tournament. So lesson no. 1 is, when the pressure is on, concentrate on your tempo and timing.

Also, one of the things that I found gave most of the players -- pros and amateurs -- big problems this week were the greens. The AT&T played three golf courses; Poppy Hills, Spyglass Hill and Pebble Beach Golf Links, and all three courses have unique qualities about their greens. Pebble beach has small greens, where Poppy hills has very large rolling greens and Spyglass has both small greens and large greens. You could see that many people had problems adjusting to the slope and speed of these various greens.

The greens all played fast and people just seemed to struggle with getting the ball in the hole. I saw one PGA Tour Pro four putt from four feet. When was the last time you saw that?

The best way to play fast greens is to feel the pace in your hands, be smooth with your stroke -- not choppy -- and get the ball rolling. Also, dont get frustrated when you roll it with poor speed. It may take a few holes to get that feel down, but getting upset with a poor first putt won't make the second one any easier.

Finally, there was one other item that I noticed as a predominant issue this week. The amateur players all week were coming up short on their approach shots -- often as much as ten to twenty yards. I know this is very common on your weekend round with your friends and it happened at the AT&T as well. What followed was higher scores because the players were not hitting greens or even coming close in some cases. Here is a tip, lets say you hit your seven iron 150 yards with a good shot. Most of the time the average player will not pure the shot alot so add one extra club even if you do not feel comfortable. Get the ball pin high and near the green to give yourself a fighting chance.

Everybody won this week, of course, the charities, the community, players and the fans. I love this event and look forward to it every year and I hope you enjoyed it as well.