How to watch the 2015 Pebble Beach National Pro-Am online, TV schedule and more

The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is probably the most unique event of the season on the PGA Tour and one of the best deals these golfers will ever get. That’s because there’s no Friday night cut, so they’re guaranteed 54 holes on what is usually considered the most beautiful place in the world to play golf. There are more than 300 players officially entered at what used to be known simply as the Bing Crosby clambake. With so many players to accommodate, three courses are needed just to host the event and that means no cut is made at the normal 36-hole midpoint.

The tournament certainly has its advantages for the TV broadcast. If the golf is boring or the leaders are relatively unknown, there are plenty of celebrity diversions to show. There’s also all the scenery and wildlife in the area and that definitely fills up plenty of air time. But there are also challenges, most notably that only a third of the field plays in front of the cameras for each of the first three rounds. The other two courses, Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore Course and Spyglass Hill, are world class venues. But the main attraction is Pebble Beach, and that’s where all the cameras are set up for the entire week. If a player is lucky enough to make the cut, they get to play it again on Sunday afternoon.

But because the cameras are mostly confined to just a third of the field, that can create issues for the networks. The different flights are pretty unbalanced too when it comes to big name players and well-known celebrity amateurs. Friday’s broadcast featured almost no well-known pros and very few famous amateurs. But Saturday’s group at Pebble is loaded, likely due to CBS’ takeover of the coverage on the weekend. The Tour sets it up well for its primary network partner, especially because it’s the rare event where they don’t have to worry about a cut before the weekend.

What CBS and the tournament could not have planned for, however, is having both 36-hole leaders at Pebble on Saturday. Brandt Snedeker and Matt Jones are both at 12-under and will play in back-to-back groups on Saturday. Snedeker is a past champion here and a world-class player coming off an ugly year that bumped him way down the world rankings. But given the way Pebble is playing this week under perfect weather conditions, Snedeker will have a great chance to fire a mid-to-low 60s round and get out in front by a multi-shot margin heading into the final round.

On top of the two leaders, the Golf Channel and CBS cameras should also feature Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Jim Furyk, reigning FedEx Cup champ Billy Horschel, and Ian Poulter, among others.. For the amateur side, well, Bill Murray will be there. Murray always gets plenty of love from the cameras, and he’ll certainly play to them throughout his round on Saturday. He’s sort of become the face of this event over the years and there will be hijinks in the third round. Let’s see if Jim Nantz can contain himself. Joining Murray on the amateur side will be Buster Posey, Matt Cain, Andy Garcia, Larry the Cable Guy in his cut sleeves, Chris O’Donnell, and Wayne Gretzky, playing with his son-in-law, DJ. The celebrities at this event are never the greatest, but the biggest ones will be playing Pebble on Saturday.

Golf Channel will have the early broadcast, providing 90 minutes of coverage before the switch to CBS later in the day. With both leaders going off at 12:50 p.m. ET, expect GC to carry all their shots during the early portion of the broadcast. If you’re unable to watch on TV, both networks will have a simulcast stream up and running throughout the day. Here are all your media options for the third round:

1 to to 2:30 p.m. — Golf Channel

3 to 6 p.m. — CBS

1 to 2:30 p.m. — Golf Channel/NBC Sports LiveExtra simulcast stream

1 to 6 p.m. — PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208)