Taylor Swift rumors spiked ticket sales for Pebble Beach golf tournament

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Taylor Swift boosted ticket sales to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am without even being there.

Pebble Beach had an extra buzz Friday morning with rumors swirling in the cool Pacific breeze Swift would be there to watch her fiancé, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, playing in the PGA Tour event that combines corporate CEOs and celebrities with golf's best.

Alas, Swifties, it was just another pretty day at Pebble Beach.

“It was busy without her,” said Mackenzie Hughes, who played in the group. “With her, I think it would have literally been pandemonium.”

It still was good news for the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, which runs the event. Tournament Director Steve John said when Kelce was announced as playing in the pro-am, more than $60,000 in tickets were sold over the next 12 hours.

Swift is rumored to be in town. But she was not at Spyglass Hill on Thursday, where Kelce was playing with pro partner Keith Mitchell along with Hughes and retired NFL quarterback Alex Smith.

No matter. Pebble Beach is the main attraction, and John said some $21,000 tickets for the second round were sold between 6:30 p.m. Thursday and 6:30 a.m. Friday, two hours before Kelce played.

More than 1,000 spectators lined the left side of the first fairway at Pebble Beach, but all they saw was Kelce hitting his tee shot to the right, into and out of the trees, and along the cart path (he made a par).

Sure, there was plenty of Chiefs gear in the crowd, one young girl wearing a Kansas City sweatshirt. The tournament has a long history of athletes over the years, including Ken Griffey Jr. playing in a group with Tiger Woods some 20 years ago, Aaron Rodgers and Roger Clemens, who once made a hole-in-one.

This, however, was clearly a Swift moment. Except that it wasn't.

John and his tournament staff left nothing to chance. When he wasn't busy responding to text messages — will she be there or not? — he had plans in place for security, for transportation across the course, even a secure suite overlooking the 18th green.

Even when it was clear Swift was not at Pebble Beach, the tunnel leading from the 18th green to the scoring area included CBS announcer Jim Nantz and CBS Sports president David Berson. Nantz, whose network has the AFC, shared a long chat with Kelce and arranged for a few photos.

Kelce chose not to stop for interviews. Hughes, who described himself as a fringe Swiftie, said it was a treat to play with Kelce, whom he described as a “great personality, great vibe.”

“He even said it hasn't always been this way,” Hughes said of so much attention on Swift. “But since they're now engaged it's like, ‘My life has changed a little bit.’ Even for him to say that, that's pretty telling. He's already a pretty big star.”

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce reacts after putting on the first hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links during the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Calif., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs hits the tee off the 13th hole at Spyglass Hill in the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce, left, fist bumps Keith Mitchell after making a putt on the 10th green at Spyglass Hill Golf Course during the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce hits from the second fairway at Pebble Beach Golf Links during the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Calif., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Portland, which is welcoming a WNBA team back to the city after 24 years, selected veteran forward Bridget Carleton with the first pick in Friday's expansion draft.

Guard Julie Allemand, who played last season for the Los Angeles Sparks, was selected by the Toronto Tempo with its first pick.

The Tempo won a coin flip and opted to take the sixth pick in the college draft on April 13 over the top pick in the expansion draft. So Portland went first on Friday and will have the seventh pick in the college draft.

Carleton, who has played for the last seven seasons for the Minnesota Lynx and averaged 6.5 points and 3.6 rebounds a game last season off the bench, was an unrestricted free agent.

“Once we finalized our process, and zoomed in on Bridget, and knew we had our first expansion pick, it was obvious we did not want to have Toronto hold our destiny in their hands," Portland general manger Vanja Cernivec said.

Allemand averaged 5.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5 assists in 34 games last season.

“This group gives us the ability to compete from day one while continuing to build, and embraces the opportunity to help shape something new in a new country as Canada’s first WNBA team,” Toronto general manager Monica Wright Rogers said.

The league's teams protected five players apiece ahead of the expansion draft but those lists were not made public, leading to speculation about which players were available.

On Wednesday, the Chicago Sky announced trades with the Tempo and the Fire, which prevented the expansion teams from selecting Sky players. In exchange, the Fire got the No. 17 pick in the college draft and the No. 26 pick went to the Tempo.

The expansion draft had two rounds, with up to six picks for each team in each round. The teams alternated picks, with the Tempo picking first in the second round after the Fire got the first overall selection.

Teams could only lose two players to the expansion draft. If a player was taken in the first round, a second player from that same franchise couldn't be taken until the second round.

Following Allemand, the Tempo selected center Nyara Sabally from the Liberty, guard Marina Mabrey from the Sun, forward Aaliya Nye from the Aces, guard Lexi Held from the Mercury, and forward Maria Conde from the Valkyries.

In the second round the Tempo selected forward Maria Kliundikova from the Lynx, center Adja Kane from the Liberty, center Nikolina Milic from the Sun, guard Kitija Laksa from the Mercury, and guard Kristy Wallace from the Fever.

After Carleton, the Portland Fire selected guard Carla Leite from the Valkyries, center Luisa Geiselsoder from the Stars, forward Emily Engstler from the Mystics, guard Maya Caldwell from the Dream and forward Chloe Bibby from the Fever.

In the second round Portland took guard Haley Jones from the Wings, forward Nyadiew Puoch from the Dream, guard Sara Ashlee Barker from the Sparks, guard Sug Sutton from the Mystics and guard Nika Muhl from the Storm.

Mabry was also an unrestricted free agent. Each team was allowed to pick only one unrestricted free agent.

The teams still do not know when free agency will open. More than 80% of the players are free agents this year, as many players have expiring contracts or opted out of the previous collective bargaining agreement.

The college draft is set for April 13 and training camps open on April 19. The season will start on May 8.

The Tempo and Fire join the WNBA as the league's 14th and 15th teams. Portland previously had a WNBA team, also called the Fire, that played from 2000 to 2002.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Toronto Tempo general manager Monica Wright Rogers, right, and assistant general manager Eli Horowitz pose for a photo after speaking to media following the WNBA Expansion Draft in Toronto, Friday, April 3, 2026. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)

FILE - Minnesota Lynx forward Bridget Carleton (6) dribbles the ball up court against the Phoenix Mercury during the second half of Game 2 of a WNBA basketball playoff semifinals series Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn, File)