PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Chris Gotterup extended his streak to nine straight birdies over two rounds on two very different courses.
He ultimately settled for an 8-under 64 on Thursday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, leaving him two behind Ryo Hisatsune on a day of gorgeous weather and low scores for practically everyone — an exception being Scottie Scheffler, who shot an even-par 72.
Gotterup, who already has two wins this year, made three straight birdies to finish off his victory in the Phoenix Open last week, the last one in a playoff. From desert warmth to the California coastal chill, from carpet greens to poa annua, there was no change in his game.
A short birdie putt on No. 1, a 10-footer on the par-5 second, nearly jarring a wedge on the third, and on it went. Six holes into the round, he had six birdies.
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“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.”
He became the first golfer in the last 25 years to open a PGA Tour event with six straight birdies after winning his previous start. Overall, he’s the eighth golfer over the last 25 years to open a tour event with at least six straight birdies or better.
But it still wasn’t enough to surpass Hisatsune, who is coming off two good weeks, including a runner-up at Torrey Pines to qualify for this $20 million signature event. He had three straight birdies early in his round, made the only birdie on the par-4 ninth and finished with three straight for a 62 at Pebble Beach.
He was one shot ahead of Keegan Bradley and Sam Burns. Bradley played at Spyglass Hill, where the course average was about one-and-a-half shots higher that Pebble Beach.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy, in his first PGA Tour start of the year, had a pair of three-putt double bogeys on the par 5s at Spyglass that caused him to settle for a 68.
Bradley chipped in from just off the green on No. 8 at Spyglass for a birdie-eagle-birdie burst, and he kept a clean card the rest of the way for the best score on the course that typically plays the hardest 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 be a pushover with no wind, particularly the opening seven holes. That’s where Hisatsune (five birdies) and Gotterup (six) made hay.
Scheffler, not so much.
It started with a clump of mud on his ball in the fairway on the par-5 second that sent his shot some 30 yards left of the green. He picked up only one birdie during that opening stretch, and then a strong breeze was largely into him on the way back in. And he wasn’t particularly sharp.
He hit only two approach shots inside 10 feet (and missed them both), and he didn’t make a putt longer than 8 feet for his round.
“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.”
Scheffler also struggled in Round 1 of the Phoenix Open, shooting a 2-over 73 before rallying to contend on the weekend.
This is the first time he’s shot even or worse in the first round of consecutive starts on tour since May 2021 at the PGA Championship and Charles Schwab Challenge.
Burns didn’t take advantage of the early holes, either. And then he birdied No. 8 over the ocean with a bold approach that settled 12 feet away between the back pin and the right bunker. And with the wind picking up a little strength, he had five birdies in a six-hole stretch to start the back nine. That included pitching in from just under 30 yards on the 13th.
Burns led the field in putting — it helps making from 45 feet on No. 10 and 30 feet on No. 17 — and kept 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 had 64 at Spyglass to join Gotterup in a tie for fourth. A pair of former Pebble champions, Nick Taylor and Tom Hoge, were in the group at 65. Another shot back was Jordan Spieth, who holed out a full wedge for eagle at Spyglass.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
