Kid Rock comes to kick AT&T ass and produce Pebble Beach memories.

Before he sold more than 25 million albums – and more than any other male solo act in the 2000s – he was picking apples on his family’s ranch. Before he came a Christina Aguilera, John Mayer and Coldplay away from being a three-time Grammy winner, he was DJing parties on belt-driven turntables for beer. Before he was the first to play a televised show from Elvis’ Graceland mansion, he toiled as a janitor at a studio just to be able to record there. Before he threw haymakers at home cinematographer-rock drummer Tommy Lee over their shared affections for Pamela Anderson – at MTV’s Video Music Awards, of all places – he was the original Detroit rap star. And before he was the one to introduce Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bob Seger at their respective Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions – or do a Beastie Boys medley there with the Roots – he appeared in Joe Dirt.

“There’s no way anyone in the world is having more fun than I am,” he says. “I truly believe that.”

He went out of his way to champion Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson’s comparison of homosexuality and bestiality, announcing, “I support Phil Robertson and his choice to express his faith and beliefs. Shame on A&E.” He lent his anthem “Born Free” to Mitt Romney as his official rallying cry and performed it at a campaign fundraiser. He is pals with pro-life outfit Rock for Life and their thoughts that all abortion is “horrific.”

It all helps make Kid Rock a perfect tried and true, red white and blue, love-him-or-hate-him mirror of Americana.

It also makes him much-loved and much-loathed, the most fascinating character study appearing in the 2014 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament taking place in Del Monte Forest this weekend, where he’ll make his debut.

Not that he gives a divot what we think. He lives out the advice he once gave the world: “One middle-finger ‘fuck you’ is fun. Two is funner.”

What is less obvious is how well his constitution translates to golf. His gift for collaboration – he has teamed with everyone from Mary J. Blige to Hank Williams, Jr. to Trey Anastasio – makes him a worthy teammate. His versatility – he has successfully charted at the top of rap, rock and country hit lists, and sampled everyone from Pink Floyd to Black Sabbath – informs his ability to play a most demanding game. His uncanny self-confidence – “I just don’t like being told what to do,” he says – will come in handy when Pacific winds and beguiling greens test his mettle. His underrated effort ethic and considerable consistency – “You’ve got to work hard for your success and you’ve got to have a steady presence,” he says – only enhance his chances. His affinity for the almighty – he even produced a gospel album once – will come in handy. But more than anything, he’ll win with simple enthusiasm for his existence, an abiding, unrepentant, proudly redneck attitude of gratitude that gives him a live-in-the-moment short memory that’s ideal for golf.

“I never said I wanted to be around for a long time,” he says, “I always said I wanted to be here for a good time.”