The Accenture Match Play Championship returns this week, and with it the annual confusion of American golf fans over what terms like Halve, All Square,  Dormie, 1-Up and scores like 3 and 2 or 5 and 4 mean.

American golf fans are used to what is known as “stroke play.” In stroke play, golfers play a set number of holes—and the number of holes is known from the beginning—and the player with the lowest combined total score wins.

Not so in Match Play. In that format, the golfers are pitted against each other in a mano-a-mano format. In match play, players are concerned—not with the field—but with beating the player they are playing with.

The most confusing part of Match Play is in the scoring. Each hole in a Match is a separate event, and is taken in isolation. The player who finishes the hole in the fewest strokes wins the hole. The player who wins the most holes out of eighteen wins the match.

he tournament currently known as the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am has been a fixture on tour since it began in 1937 as the National Pro-Amateur Golf Championship. The Pro Am was founded and hosted by crooner Bing Crosby, who thought it would be a nice idea to pair some skilled amateurs with the pros where were on the West Coast leg of their travelling road show. For the first tournament, Bing donated $3,000 for the purse, of which the winner, Sam Snead took home $700. Snead reportedly asked for cash.

Crosby’s Clambake, as the event came to be known, was interrupted for World War II but returned in 1947 on the Monterey Peninsula at the Pebble Beach Golf Links, Cypress Point Club and Monterey Peninsula Country Club. The change of venue was the work of Monterey civic leaders, who thought the event would help boost tourism. Crosby was named an honorary police chief for the event.

Bing’s star power, and the Hollywood crowd that gravitated to the tournament turned it into a media event. The Crosby Clambake was broadcast on television for the first time in 1958, making it one of the longest running sports events on television.

The importance of the Clambake to the popularization of golf cannot be understated. Bing was a music superstar, and in 1948 it was estimated that half of all radio airtime was dedicated to his music. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he was routinely listed in polls as the man most admired. He won an Academy Award in 1948 for his role in Going My Way, and has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That fame, and his great interest made him at least as responsible as Arnold Palmer and President Eisenhower for the game’s growth.

Unlike his pal Bob Hope, Bing was no hacker on the links. He sported a 2 handicap and competed in both the British and US Amateurs. He won the Bob Jones Award in 1978 and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Bing died, appropriately, on a golf course in Spain in 1977.

In 1959, the event became known as the Bing Crosby National Pro Am, and remained so until 1985. Spyglass Hill entered the rotation in 1967, replacing the Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Cypress Point was dropped in 1991 for its failure to accept a black member, and was replaced by the Poppy Hills Golf Course. This year (2010), Monterey Peninsula Country Club will replace Poppy Hills.

In spite of being in California, the tournament has been famous for its bad weather. Rain, fog, and even snow (1962) have delayed, shortened or even cancelled the event (1996). In 1998, the final round actually was held in August. Crosby once quipped “Where else can you have the greatest golfers play on the greatest courses in the worst conditions?” The tournament also takes some heat for its six hour rounds.

In 1986, AT&T became the event’s title sponsor, and Bing’s widow withdrew his name from the event.

The Crosby Clambake is one of just three Pro-Ams on the Tour, and the only one where amateurs play on the final day. The format consists of two man teams—one professional and one amateur. Each of the first three days, the teams play on a different course. On the final day, the professionals and pro-am teams making the 54 hole cut play at Pebble Beach. The individual cut is the low 60 players, plus ties. However, players between 61st and 70th (and ties) will receive both official money and FedEx Cup points, as the cut for this tournament ensures the field is smaller than a standard tournament cut of 70. On the Pro-Am side, the low 25 teams, plus ties make the cut.

Jesper Parnevik, the Swedish golfer who famously introduced Tiger to Elin, likely will have to quit golf because of a broken vertebrae in his lower back. The condition will require a joint fusion, and that, Parnevik says, means no more golf.

Parnevik, 44, is a five time winner on the PGA Tour.

On the course, Parnevik was easily recognizable by his somewhat eccentric (in Europe they would likely be called stylish) clothes, particularly hats with the bill turned up. Perhaps he got his tastes from his father, Bo, a popular Swedish comedian and television star.

In spite of underperforming at last week’s Northern Trust Open, Phil Mickelson is ensconced as the bookmaker’s favorite at the AT&T Pro Am this weekend at 7/1. And in the absence of newly crowned world number 2 Steve Stricker, the next nine are Retief Goosen (18/1) Jim Furyk (18/1), Dustin Johnson (20/1), Hunter Mahan (22/1), Tim Clark (25/1), Luke Donald (25/1), Padraig Harrington (25/1), Matt Kuchar (28/1) and Sean O’Hair (28/1).

It’s actually a pretty lackluster field this week, especially given that the 2010 US Open will be played on this course just a few months hence. Just six of the world’s top 20 players are there: Mickelson, Furyk, Harrington, Garcia, O’Hair and Goosen. I suppose that even the lure of extra time at Pebble Beach under competitive conditions can’t offset the horror of possibly having to play four rounds with Kevin James or some corporate stuffed suit.

Read on for the rest of the odds, courtesy of Bodog, the world’s largest sports betting destination.

It was a good sports day yesterday. The Whatever They’re Calling It Now at the Riviera is a favorite tournament of mine, and the Super Bowl is always a big event.

The Riviera’s Tournament doesn’t always attract the biggest names, but I love to watch because I love the course. It looks terrific on television, and the camera shots of the finishing hole, in particular have left a great impression on me. You also can’t beat that clubhouse.

Looks aside, the Riviera attracts my attention because of the strategic thinking it requires. The announcers never tire of pointing out how architect George Thomas created a course with lots of strategic options, and opportunities for risk and reward. And they’re right. Thomas himself once wrote:

The spirit of golf is to dare a hazard, and by negotiating it, reap a reward.

The 315 yard par 4 tenth at Riviera is a great example. It’s drivable by many—if not most—tour players, and an Eagle is a real possibility. But so is a double bogey. Put the ball on the wrong side, and you’re toast. Rocco Mediate said:

“If you miss anywhere to the right, you can’t put the ball anywhere on the green from 50 yards. If you hit it in the right greenside bunker, it’s hard to keep it on the green. Even with a sand wedge in your hand you are going, ‘Man, where do I hit this?’ And if you hit it off line, it’s over. Remember, the green is maybe six to eight steps deep.”

Nicklaus has called this one of the best par fours in golf.

The short par 5 first is another fine example. Starting on a tee that’s 75 feet above the fairway, it seems easy but for an out of bounds left and a gully crossing the fairway. Those design elements are what makes a player think twice before pulling out the driver. As with the fourth, an eagle is possible, but so is a nine.

Both of these punish aggressive play and make recovery difficult. Whereas lesser designers try to protect their courses with additional yardage, Thomas made the space between the ears the most important distance at Riviera.

With a bunker in the middle of the green, the par 3 sixth is as famous as any hole in golf. It’s humorous, but also a great strategic element. Hit to the wrong side, and you’re facing a very difficult putt - or even a chip from the green. In this, it reminds me of the whimsical, but deadly design of the University of Michigan’s Alistair MacKenzie design sixth.

It’s these sort of design elements that makes Riviera such a refreshing change from so many of the PGA Tour venues.

The Riviera Country Club is one of two or three courses on my bucket list. All I need is an invite and I’m there.