Famed chef Thomas Keller finds that a lot from the kitchen translates to the course.

THE SUN BEGAN TO BEAT DOWN, so Thomas Keller pulled a baseball cap from his bag – a little perk from his restaurant with “The French Laundry” stitched across the front.

It was 2010 and the famed chef was playing his first pro-am round, an informal affair at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club outside of Chicago. Things were not going well, and now morning temperatures were climbing.

His professional partner, Charley Hoffman, had been unimpressed to that point. But the hat caught his attention. “Who do you know at The French Laundry?” Hoffman asked, adding that he had always wanted to get in at the Yountville institution, often cited in lists of the best 50 restaurants in the world.

“That was the only redeeming part of the day,” Keller recalls with a chuckle. “I was so bad.”

Chef Keller is now an AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am fixture, no longer intimidated by the setting. Nor is he terrified, as he says he was in his early days of golfing in front of a crowd, by the likelihood of slicing a shot into the gallery. (“I thought I’d kill a 9-year-old,” he explains.)

But he does more during the week than just show up and play golf. Keller is known for donning his chef whites and toque – the towering hat – for the charity hole in one challenge and passing out cookies to the fans. He also hosts a cooking demonstration every year on Wednesday morning for the 80 or so spouses and partners of tour players.

“They seem to like it,” Keller says with a touch of modesty. He was, after all, named Best Chef in America in 1997 and is the only American chef to receive three Michelin Stars at two restaurants in the same year.

He turned to golf because otherwise the kitchen would have consumed such a meticulous chef. Keller believes there are similarities between the game and cooking at a high level. Both golfer and chef put a lot of stock in their tools. There are social interactions and on-the-spot corrections. Practice is critical. “You have to focus, be patient, be persistent,” he says.

When it comes to the Pebble Beach Golf Links, Keller explains the par-3 17th – home to some of the game’s most iconic shots – is intimidating. He feels comfortable on 6, despite its steep fairway. But number 8 gives him trouble. One year he buried a ball in a back bunker. It came to rest under a lip of turf, leaving no easy way for him to chip out, so the chef asked his caddie for advice.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” was the response.

Moments like that are what stand out. Conversations and friendships develop. Keller says he loves the camaraderie and sense of tradition that envelops the sport.

“People always ask about my favorite course and the answer is easy,” he says. “Golf brings people together. Pebble is that place.”