Rory McIlroy’s speed bumps in defence of his AT&T Pebble Beach pro-am title came on the bumpy poa annua greens as a number of indiscretions with the putter undid good work with driver and irons.
The world number two – opening his defence at Spyglass Hill – signed for a four-under-par 68, to trail first round leader Ryo Hisatsune by six strokes.
Shane Lowry, runner-up to McIlroy a year ago, opened his tournament – the first of the PGA Tour’s signature events confined to 70 players with a $20 million purse and no cut – with a five-under-par 67 at Pebble Beach Links.
For McIlroy, who reverted back to his TaylorMade P760 blades after a short experiment with cavity backs at the two DP World Tour events in Dubai last month, the woes came not with his rebagged irons but with his putter, running up two double-bogeys in the space of three holes at Spyglass Hill (on the Par 3 third and fifth holes, his 12th and 14th of the round) when he missed very short putts on each occasion.
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McIlroy had been coasting indeed for much of his round, a birdie-birdie start followed by an eagle on the 14h and then a brilliant hole out from a greenside bunker for birdie on the 17th to cover his front nine in 31 strokes only for a stuttered homeward run that included those two double bogeys.
Lowry, like McIlroy making his first start of the PGA Tour season having also opted to play in the two Dubai tournaments last month on the DP World Tour, had a solid opening round at Pebble Beach on a day of good scoring: the Offaly man had seven birdies and two bogeys for a 67, finishing with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th.
Hisatsune came into the event on the back of a runners-up finish to Justin Rose in the Farmers Insurance and a top-10 in the Phoenix Open and maintained that strong form with a round of 62 – 10 birdies and no dropped shots – at Pebble Beach, playing the links for the first time.
The 23-year-old Japanese player – with three wins on the Japan Tour and one on the DP World Tour, the 2023 French Open, which ultimately led to him securing his PGA Tour card through the DPWT pathway – shot a bogey-free 62 to claim a one-stroke lead over Sam Burns and Keegan Bradley, while the in-form Chris Gotterup, winner of last week’s Phoenix Open, opened with a 64.
Scottie Scheffler, the world number one, struggled with his game, uncharacteristically so off the tee, and opened with a disappointing opening round 72 at Pebble Beach to sit 10 shots adrift of Hisatsune.
