The Japanese player Ryo Hisatsune (-10) is the first leader of the week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the first signature event of the season on the PGA Tour. After securing two consecutive top 10 finishes at Torrey Pines in the Farmers, and at the Stadium Course of TPC Scottsdale in a WM Phoenix Open where he led the standings after the second round, the young player from Okayama, aged 23, seems to have found the formula on the greens to compete for victories.
Despite not being one of the longest drivers by any means, missing three fairways, losing strokes from the tee, and also in approach shots, Hisatsune excelled with over 48 metres of putts holed. This success allowed him to deliver a scorecard of 62 strokes at Pebble Beach Golf Links, one of the two courses played in rotation during the first two rounds, with 10 flawless birdies (three consecutive to close his round). His challenge will be to stay at the top and avoid what happened in Arizona, where he gradually faded over the weekend.
Sam Burns (-9), who besides the Ryder Cup, only played the Procore and Hero of Tiger since the summer, hadn’t started the year particularly inspired, with a tied 27th place at the American Express and missing the cut last week. But today he ‘dominated’ the back nine of Pebble Beach, with a seven-under stretch for a total of nine flawless birdies. One of the contenders to watch this week, already with five titles on the PGA Tour, and who secured a top 10 a couple of years ago in this same tournament.
His captain at Bethpage Black, Keegan Bradley (-9), was also very inspired on this first day of competition in the Californian tournament. In his case, playing the other course, the Spyglass Hill Golf Course, with seven birdies and an eagle for a total of 63 strokes, one behind the leader. A promising start after a poor season beginning, missing the cut and far from the top positions in the two tournaments he has played.
Chris Gotterup (-8), the first player to win twice this year (the Sony Open in Hawaii and last week’s WM Phoenix Open) doesn’t want to get off the good wave on the Pacific coast. His start to the week at Pebble Beach was spectacular, with six birdies in his first six holes (the longest streak of his career on the tour), for a final round of 64 strokes. The trending player on the PGA Tour wants to continue being so in the first designated event of the new season on the tour.
Joining him in sharing the fourth position on the leaderboard are Tony Finau (-8), with 64 strokes just days after opting for a putter change to improve his poor performance on the greens, and Patrick Rodgers (-8), both at Spyglass. In total, there are 18 players within just four strokes at the top of the leaderboard, where Jordan Spieth (-6) appears, featuring as one of the shots of the day by holing from the fairway for an eagle on the 18th.
Spieth from DEEP! 🦅
The 2017 @ATTProAm champ is T2 thru 9!
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Rory McIlroy (-4), the defending champion of the tournament, experienced a bittersweet season debut on the PGA Tour. After starting the year playing two DP World Tour events in Dubai and taking a few days off to adjust some aspects of his game and with his new ball, the Northern Irishman arrives at Pebble Beach ready to repeat last year’s performance, when the Californian event became his starting point for an unforgettable season, also winning THE PLAYERS and the Masters. But his initial momentum this Thursday was halted by similar mistakes on two par threes.
He began his round with four under par in five holes, with two birdies to start and a great eagle on the 14th at Pebble Beach Golf Links (the 10th was his first flag of the day), holing from the bunker. He completed the front nine with five under in total. But in the second half of his round, each birdie was followed by a double bogey: one on the par three of the 3rd and another on the 5th, with two three-putts. At least he ended the day with a smile with a final birdie on the 9th for a round of 68 strokes that keeps him in contention.
Things were much worse for the World Number One, Scottie Scheffler (PAR). As happened last week in Phoenix, his disastrous first round makes things very difficult. The adopted Texan had absolutely nothing go his way. The strong point of his game, the irons, didn’t work at any moment. He made some execution and strategy errors from the tee. And to top it off, he hardly holed anything with the putter. A birdie on the 18th allowed him to avoid an over-par scorecard, but his round of 72 strokes puts him in the same situation as seven days ago.
Justin Rose (-3), Collin Morikawa (-3), and Viktor Hovland (-2) were other notable names in this reduced field tournament with a millionaire prize pool who failed to make the most of the first 18 holes and will need to accelerate from tomorrow to have a chance over the weekend. Because in this first round at Pebble Beach, the contenders have managed to eclipse many of the circuit’s big stars in the first major event of the new season.
