Bhatia withstands trying day to lead Pebble by three
PEBBLE BEACH—Pebble Beach started to show a nasty side Saturday with wind that wobbled golf balls on the greens in chilly Pacific air. Akshay Bhatia did enough early with six birdies in seven holes that carried him to a four-under-par 68 and a two-shot lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
But the worst might still come, as starting times were moved up one hour for the final round with forecast of big wind and rain, a time for players to hang on by the seat of their rain pants.
Low scores were still available. Collin Morikawa, the two-time major champion trying to end more than two years without a victory, had 11 birdies in his round of 62 that shot him up 25 spots on the leaderboard to a three-way tie for second with Jake Knapp (66) and Sepp Straka (67).
Bhatia began the third round in a share of the lead with Ryo Hisatsune and threatened to turn it into a runaway. The recipe for Pebble when wind isn’t howling—and it wasn’t to start the day—is to take advantage of the opening seven holes. Bhatia followed that script beautifully with six birdies, only one of them outside 10 feet. He led by as many as five shots.
He made it through 47 holes of this signature event until his first bogey when the strengthening wind sent his tee shot well over the green on the par-3 12th. He dropped another shot on the par-3 17th when the wind knocked down his shot into the bunker and he missed a four-foot putt.
He went out in 30 and came in 38, exactly what Pebble Beach can do with wind. Even so, Bhatia was at 19-under 197.
Even without the “Celebrity Saturday” from the old AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am days—this is the third year of the old Clambake becoming a buttoned-up signature event—there was no shortage of entertainment.
Knapp, the smooth-swinging Southern Californian, started and finished with an eagle. He holed out from 130 yards on the par-4 first hole, and he rode the wind for an approach to 12 feet for eagle on the par-5 18th.
Sam Burns also holed out for eagle to start his day, temporarily giving him the lead. He didn’t finish with an eagle, but it was no less surprising —a shot from the greenside bunker off the video board behind the green, then a chip that rattled the pin and dropped for birdie.
Burns salvaged a 72 and was five behind with a group that included Tommy Fleetwood (67) and Maverick McNealy (63).
Defending champion Rory McIlroy was 10 shots behind, and he can count five holes that put him that far back. He had a triple bogey (drive onto the beach at No. 4) and a double bogey (drive out-of-bounds to the right on No. 18) in his third round of 72. He had a pair of three-putt double bogeys from 5 feet on Thursday. And he had a shank that led to bogey on a par 5 on Friday.
Scottie Scheffler’s best hope was to extend his streak of top 10s on the PGA Tour to 18. He had a bogey-free 67 that allowed him to gain one shot on the lead—he was still eight behind.
“It’s not going to be pretty at all times. You’re going to have some funky stuff happen and just have to deal with it,” Knapp said. “I think anytime you get bad elements and stuff like that you just have to do a good job of not letting it bug you.”
