Gotterup’s Birdie Streak Continues as Hisatsune Takes Lead at Pebble Beach
Chris Gotterup extended his remarkable birdie streak to nine straight across two rounds and two very different courses, firing an 8-under 64 Thursday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He trails leader Ryo Hisatsune by two shots after a day of pristine conditions and low scoring.
Hisatsune put together a stunning 62 at Pebble Beach, bookending his round with three consecutive birdies at both the start and finish. His performance included the day’s only birdie on the challenging par-4 ninth hole.
Keegan Bradley and Sam Burns sit one shot back of Hisatsune after posting 63s. Bradley’s came at Spyglass Hill, which played about one-and-a-half shots harder than Pebble Beach on Thursday.
Scottie Scheffler struggled to find his rhythm, needing a birdie on the par-5 18th at Pebble Beach just to break par.
“I feel like typically I’m good at scoring, and today I felt like I didn’t score at all,” Scheffler said. “Anything that kind of went wrong seemed to be going that direction. I actually feel like I’m playing pretty well. Just one of those days.”
Defending champion Rory McIlroy, making his first PGA Tour start of the year, carded a 68 at Spyglass despite a pair of three-putt double bogeys on the par 5s.
Gotterup, who already has two wins this year, picked up right where he left off last week when he finished with three straight birdies, including one in a playoff. The change from desert heat to coastal chill and from carpet-smooth greens to poa annua surfaces didn’t faze him one bit.
He birdied his first six holes in succession, starting with a short putt on the first, a 10-footer on the par-5 second, and nearly holing a wedge shot on the third.
“I was kind of just coasting along,” Gotterup said. “You don’t really realize it in the moment, and then when you look up you’re like, ‘Wow, I’m 6 under through six.’ That’s nice.”
Bradley’s round featured a spectacular birdie-eagle-birdie burst that included chipping in from just off the green on the 8th hole at Spyglass. He maintained a clean card the rest of the way for the day’s best score on what’s typically the harder course in calm conditions.
“It’s about as nice of a day as I’ve ever seen out here,” Bradley said. “The greens are soft but that gets them a little bumpy, too. So some of the putts are a little dicey, but definitely scoring is good.”
Pebble Beach can play relatively easy with no wind, particularly the opening seven holes. That’s where Hisatsune (five birdies) and Gotterup (six) built their rounds.
Scheffler couldn’t capitalize on those same opportunities. His troubles began with a mud ball on the par-5 second that sent his approach 30 yards left of the green. He managed just one birdie during that opening stretch and then faced a stiff breeze on the inward nine.
His approach game wasn’t sharp either – he hit only two shots inside 10 feet (missing both) and didn’t make a putt longer than 8 feet all day.
“I guess the challenge is making a bunch of birdies. That was a challenge for me today,” Scheffler said. “I’m looking at the leaderboard right now and it looks like 7 under gets you in the top 10, so scores are pretty low.”
Burns took a different route to his 63. After a relatively quiet start, he birdied the oceanside 8th with a bold approach that settled 12 feet from a back pin. As the wind picked up slightly, he caught fire with five birdies in a six-hole stretch to start the back nine, including pitching in from just under 30 yards on the 13th.
Burns led the field in putting, draining bombs from 45 feet on the 10th and 30 feet on the 17th while keeping bogeys off his card.
“I made a significant amount of putts and feel like I was hitting it pretty nice. It was a good combination for today,” Burns said.
Tony Finau and Patrick Rodgers each posted 64s at Spyglass to join Gotterup in a tie for fourth. Former Pebble champions Nick Taylor and Tom Hoge were in the group at 65, with Jordan Spieth another shot back at 66.
