SAN FRANCISCO, California — American Scottie Scheffler shot an eight-under-par 64 to join Belgian Thomas Detry and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg in the lead at the Pebble golf Beach Pro-Am.
Scheffler shot a bogey-free, eight-under-par round of 64 to share top spot on the leaderboard at 11-under with Belgian Thomas Detry and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg.
The American sank a 35-footer to make birdie on the par-3 17th and then followed up with an aggressive approach on the par-5 18th.
“Boring is always nice on the card, keeping a clean card is good,” said Scheffler of his avoidance of bogeys on the historic Californian course.
“I felt like I didn’t have to struggle for many pars. I kept the golf course in front of me, made some nice puts and hit some quality shots into the greens. I just gave myself a lot of opportunities,” he said according to AFP.
“I did not realize how much it rained overnight. It was really wet. So like on a lot of these back-to-front greens, it’s a big adjustment going from hitting a pitching wedge to hitting an 8-iron to try to take off spin,” he added.
The most remarkable performance came from the weather, which once again cooperated. The rain fell overnight again, and except for a 30-minute shower, sunshine graced the Monterey Peninsula for much of the day.
It still put an onus on the players to get creative in trying to access back pins with greens so soft the ball was spinning back.
“It was really wet,” Scheffler said according to AP. “So like on a lot of these back-to-front greens it´s a big adjustment going from hitting a pitching wedge to hitting an 8 iron to try to take off spin.
“It´s little stuff like that you have to adjust to on the course. But it felt like the wind may have lied down a tiny bit as the day went on. I think we were forecast to have a little bit more aggressive winds than we did.
After a thumping 302-yard drive, the 24-year-old landed his approach 35 feet from the hole and sank his putt superbly.
Aberg was outstanding on the greens as he reached the turn on five-under, and he added two more birdies on the back nine on the 11th and 14th.
“Obviously got off to a nice start with a couple of long putts, I don’t remember the last time I did that, so obviously, that’s a little bonus. I felt like I kept playing quite well and kept being disciplined, so it was nice,” said the Swede.
“I don´t remember the last time I did that, so obviously that´s a little bonus,” Aberg said. “I felt like I kept playing quite well and kept being disciplined, so it was nice.”
Aberg, who played college golf in the USA for Texas Tech, picked up his first win on the PGA Tour in November at the RSM Classic, following up his win on the DP World Tour in Switzerland in September.
That month, he grabbed global attention with his excellent performance in Europe’s Ryder Cup win over the United States in Italy.
Aberg said he would draw on those experiences as he searches for his second PGA Tour victory.
Detry teed off on 10 and was three-under at the turn but was undone by bogeys on the fourth and fifth as he carded a two-under 70.
Patrick Cantlay recovered from driving out of bounds on the 18th to make par and finish a stroke behind the leading trio after his two-under 70.
American Justin Thomas, who shot a five-under 67, Argentine Emiliano Grillo and France’s Matthieu Pavon — coming off his historic victory at Torrey Pines — were all two shots off the lead.
