PEBBLE BEACH, California: Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry decorated stunning views Thursday with a hole-in-one for each on different courses. Russell Henley birdied his last two holes for an 8-under 64 and the lead. And there was Scottie Scheffler, looking very much like he was never away.
Scheffler, out of golf for a month from a freak injury making ravioli, opened with a bogey at Spyglass Hill, didn’t make another bogey the rest of the way, missed only one green and began his encore with a 67.
“I like what I saw today,” Scheffler said, who wound up missing two tournaments to start the year. “I hit a few errant shots out there, but overall kept the course in front of me for the most part, so I was able to make a decent amount of birdies.”
Jordan Spieth, the three-time major champion who last played in August before season-ending surgery on his left wrist, had the birdies dry up after a solid start on the back nine at Spyglass Hill, and he had to settle for a 70.
The conditions were as calm as they probably will get this week, with some cloud cover and cool weather. Pebble Beach typically is the place to be when the wind doesn’t blow because of the scoring opportunities, particularly on the first seven holes. It’s the worst place to be — in golf competition terms, anyway — when the wind arrives.
The crowd was relatively quiet — the product of a signature event and losing 76 players and amateurs, for decades the fabric of the AT&T — until coming to life as Scheffler’s fairway metal barely covered the bunker on the par-5 14 to set up an eagle putt.
But it wasn’t for Scheffler. McIlroy was playing ahead of him, and his sand wedge from 119 yards flew straight into the cup for an ace.
“It’s such an elevated tee that the ball’s in the air and you know it’s on line but you don’t know whether to say, ‘Go!’ or ‘Sit!’ or ‘Spin,’ or ‘Release’ or whatever,” McIlroy said. “You’re looking at it and you’re watching where it might land on the green and the thing just disappears.”
McIlroy shot 66, including a 33 on the back nine without a 3 on his scorecard. He had a 1 from the ace, a birdie on the par-3 12th and birdies on both par 5s.
Lowry was at Pebble Beach when he hit a beauty of 54-degree wedge that landed to the left and rolled into the cup. It was a great shot. And yes, there’s a little fortune for all good golf shots.
“Big bounce, it was perfect. It just spun and spun right into the hole. It was pretty cool,” Lowry said. “I know I’m pretty good at times, but you know, a bit of luck every now and then is helpful, too.”
Jim Nantz of CBS Sports, who lives at Pebble, mentioned “Life complete” for Lowry to have made an ace of one of the prettiest — and famous — par 3s in the world. Augusta National might like a word. Lowry also has a hole-in-one on the 16th hole at the Masters, along with a hole-in-one on the island 17th at the TPC Sawgrass. Luck of the Irish, indeed.
Lowry also opened with a 66 and plays Spyglass Hill on Friday, with the chance of wind and rain increasing each day.
Henley was at Spyglass, which had a course average (69.775) that was 1.6 shots more than Pebble Beach. Viktor Hovland, Cam Davis, Jake Knapp and Justin Rose shot 65 at Pebble Beach, while Sepp Straka and Rasmus Hojgaard shot their 65s at Spyglass.
Scheffler went from the hill right of the 10th fairway at Spyglass to a front bunker, blasted out some 20 feet and missed his par putt. That was his only bogey, though he was 1 over until lacing the fairway metal to 30 feet for two-putt birdie on the par-5 14th, just as McIlroy on the hole next to him plucked his ball from the cup.
According to golf analyst Justin Ray, Scheffler had his 100th round on the PGA Tour since 2022 with one bogey or fewer. That’s what McIlroy was raving about when he spoke of golf’s best player earlier in the week. A month away, and a failed attempt at cutting ravioli dough with a wine glass, hasn’t changed that.
