PEBBLE BEACH — As time passes, the 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am will be remembered as the year Bill Murray not only entertained the masses as usual but also won the whole enchilada for the first time.

The golf purists, however — and maybe a few other folks who witnessed it live — will recall that it was unheralded pro D.A. Points who immortalized Murray in the pro-am annals with two of the most incredible back-to-back holes in tournament history.

Points, a 34-year-old journeyman from Pekin, Ill., who never had even a top-two finish on the PGA Tour before Sunday, broke free from a tight pack of challengers with a 107-yard eagle hole-out on Pebble Beach’s tough par-5 14th and a follow-up scramble birdie on the par-4 15th. It spurred him to a 5-under-par, final-round 67 and a two-stroke victory over Hunter Mahan.

It also catapulted Murray, certainly the AT&T’s most beloved celebrity amateur of the past 20 years and arguably ever, to a two-shot pro-am triumph with a four-day, 35-under total. Talk about two of the most unlikely champions ever to stroll down Pebble Beach’s famed 18th fairway.

“To win on the PGA Tour, and especially at Pebble Beach and especially with Bill Murray “… gosh, I don’t think I could even dream it that well,” said Points, who won with a 15-under tournament total of 271.

The approach on 14 was the signature moment of the tournament and also its most surreal, even if it was punctuated by perhaps the worst celebratory belly-bump ever between Points and Murray.

With the pin tucked tightly to the large, protective front bunker, Points lofted a gap wedge that barely cleared the bunker, took a bounce in the high fringe then curled across the green about 15 feet into the heart of the hole. It was the first eagle-3 recorded at 14 during the four-day event.

“You’re trying to hit such a small little table top,” said Points. “It’s just a treacherous shot. There’s not much green, and when it’s firm, there’s a little wind and it’s so uphill — then there’s the lip on that bunker — it makes it a scary shot. I was very, very fortunate.”

The shot not only propelled Points from a one-shot deficit into a one-shot lead but also put the Points/Murray team into the pro-am lead. Then, for good measure, Points birdied the 15th after nearly hitting his drive out of bounds, had to straddle an OB stake to hit his second shot, then drained a 28-foot putt from the edge of the green.

That one even threw Points’ partner for a mental loop.

“The birdie afterwards was more ridiculous in a way,” Murray said. “I was just laughing hysterically. I could not even speak. I don’t know, it’s like when I see real art, I laugh. When I see a Rembrandt, I laugh, because it’s just combination of this beautiful thing — it’s alive, yet it’s not.”

Both Points and Murray were pretty much emotional wrecks playing the 16th. Murray said playing the last few holes was like an out-of-body experience. Points, meanwhile, admitted his caddie asked him how he was feeling on the 16th green, and he answered, “Not very good.”

But then an amazing thing happened — Points took charge of the comic relief and sealed the deal. As the comedian had done with him on a few occasions earlier in the tournament, Points yelled at Murray while he was lining up his putt on the 16th green, “You know, Bill, I think the crowd would really appreciate it if you would knock this in.” It took all the tension out of the air.

“To kind of play around with him totally took me out of the moment just enough to help bring me back to life a little bit,” Points said.

Murray agreed, noting, “I try to be funny whenever I think there is a place to be funny, and his being funny on 16 was big, because the crowd laughed. It was over. It was done. On 17 and 18, we were buying ice cream bars.”

As a victory aside, Points said he was happy that he was able to debunk the notion that playing with Murray is some sort of curse.

“I kept thinking, ‘Why does everybody get so worked up thinking he’s this big distraction?’ ” he said. “I tried to embrace it. It distracted me from trying so hard.”

Added Murray of his role in helping Points, “The best people in any profession, the whole thing is about being as relaxed as you can. Michael Jordan is all about being relaxed. Great actors are the same way. There’s almost no tension in them.”

Also helping on the tension-reduction front, the last remaining competition fell by the wayside. Mahan, who made a strong final-day charge with a 6-under 66, played a potential eagle on the 18th green into a par with a three-putt.

Second- and third-day leader Steve Marino, who led much of the final round until Points arrived at No. 14, needed an eagle at the 18th to force a tie but promptly butchered it with a triple-bogey, hooking his approach shot into the ocean. Marino, who shot a 74, fell back into a tie for fourth with Spencer Levin (10-under 276), while Tom Gillis — who never really challenged for the lead — took third at 11-under 275.