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Walking with the Champs at Pebble Beach

I spent Tuesday afternoon walking five holes at Pebble Beach with a camera and a cell phone (to Tweet of course) with several football and baseball stars from the 49ers and Giants.

It was all for a good cause of course. The goal of yesterday’s Google Charity Shootout was to raise money for the 49ers Foundation and the Giants Community Fund.  I was there to report on the event for 49ers.com and share the uniqueness of the event.

The 49ers team boasted a combined 11 Super Bowl rings between them while the Giants squad came to the tee with glistening 2010 World Series rings to their credit.

And while both sides were competing for a good cause, it didn’t take very long for things to go from charitable to competitive.

When Cody Ross’ tee shot sliced badly to the right on the opening hole, Jerry Rice was the first to rub it in, waving his hands to the side and saying that it would be, “playable…on the third hole.”

The 49ers teams of Rice/Brent Jones and Dwight Clark/Harris Barton got off to a great start, winning the first four holes. While all of the 49ers players are very good golfers in their own right, the clutch shots made were certainly reminiscent of the key plays they made at Candlestick Park.

Alternating shots on the second hole, Barton needed to rally to catch up with the Giants after Clark’s second shot found a home in a deep bunker.

“Can I get a line?” Barton asked, not able to see the green with the fairway several feet over his head.

Once he aimed correctly, Barton’s shot bounced on the right side of the green and rolled just left of the pin.

When the Giants’ Matt Cain launched a monster drive on the 18th and tossed his driver as if he’d hit a home run, Rice calmly walked to the tee and outdrove Cain by 10 yards.

“Take that,” Rice exclaimed as he turned and pointed at the Giants pitcher.

It was the same way Rice would have responded after an interception by Deion Sanders – he knew that he would get him on the next one.

While Rice hasn’t played since 2005, Barton since ’98, Jones since ’97 and Clark since ’87, each rose to the occasion when it mattered most.

The setting may have been Pebble Beach rather than Cowboys Stadium, but the results were the same. There is a reason that all these players were champions on the football field and it showed on one of the most picturesque golf courses in the country.

In the end, the football players won four out of five holes, raising $40,000 for the 49ers Foundation.  Cain managed to win the final hole on a chip-off after the 18th hole was halved.

That’s right, no ties…it was all settled in overtime (or extra innings).