PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Sepp Straka got most of his work done before the weather started to turn Friday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, posting another 7-under 65 for a three-shot lead that left Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and everyone having to chase him. Straka, coming off a win two weeks ago in the California desert, showed a game that works just fine at sea level in less-than-ideal conditions, particularly the final hour.
Out came the mittens and beanies. Down came the temperature, accompanied by a little rain. McIlroy went from challenging for the lead to making four bogeys in a six-hole stretch, before he finished his wild back nine at Pebble Beach with a 25-foot eagle putt to salvage a 70 that left him six shots behind.
Scheffler took a walk down the beach on the 18th hole , turning a potential bogey into a par when he hopped down a pair of rock ledges to the sandy soil, managed to get his ball back into play and hit 6-iron to the green. He shot 70 and was seven behind. Andrew Novak got his first victory on the PGA Tour, which comes with a plaque on the wall off the first tee, not a trip to the Masters.
Novak teamed with billionaire investor Philippe Laffont to win the pro-am. The weekend at Pebble Beach is only for the 79 pros — Ludvig Aberg had to withdraw with an illness that affected him last week at Torrey Pines — and for the hardiest of players. Gusts approaching 30 mph are in the forecast, along with spots of rain.
Pebble Beach, that felicitous me.