PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — So many players at Pebble Beach for the first time since the U.S. Open feel as though they never left.

Firm and fast?

That’s a description usually heard at the U.S. Open in June, not the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February. But in a beautiful break for the 156-man field, the Monterey Peninsula has been without rain for most of the last month, leaving Pebble Beach and the other two courses in the rotation tougher than ever.

Stuart Appleby posted a video of him dropping a golf ball on the putting green, and watching it bounce a foot in the air.

Tim Herron was on the practice green across from the Tap Room Wednesday, rolling a 6-foot putt that stopped a few inches short of the cup.

“Out there,” he said, pointing to Pebble Beach, “that would have gone 3 feet by the hole.”

Was that an indictment on the putting green not being up to speed?

“No,” Herron said. “It’s just really fast out there.”

Davis Love III knows this place as well as anyone, making his 25th consecutive start. He spent Monday on the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club and couldn’t believe how it looked.

“Firmer than I’ve ever seen it,” he said. “The fairways are like most places’ greens — really tight to the ground. But it’s in great shape. Different than in the past where you just threw it at the pin every time. You still get some into-the-wind shots that will spin back. But definitely firmer than in the past.”

Padraig Harrington is making his PGA Tour debut this week, a tournament he loves for the beauty and the format. Harrington is among the more social golfers and enjoys three days of a pro-am format, especially with longtime Irish friend J.P. McManus.

The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am gets under way today with Dustin Johnson in a rare spot of being the defending champion while seeking redemption.

Johnson is the two-time defending champion, and he has a chance to become the first player since this iconic tournament began in 1937 to win three successive years.

But the lasting image of the powerful American and Pebble Beach was that final round at the U.S. Open last summer, when he lost a three-shot lead on the second hole and shot an 82, the highest final round by a 54-hole Open leader in nearly a century.