Austria’s Sepp Straka has a slight edge going to the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but others are lurking.
Straka recovered from a rough stretch on the back nine to finish strong for a 2-under-par 70 on a windy, rainy Saturday and hold the lead after three rounds at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif.
Straka is at 16 under and will take a one-stroke lead into Sunday.
“It would be great, it would be amazing,” Straka said of potentially winning the event. “I’m not trying to let my mind wander that far. It’s a very packed leaderboard and it’s going to take a great round (Sunday).”
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Ireland’s Shane Lowry shot matching 65s to sit one shot back.
“(Sunday) would be big for a lot of reasons,” McIlroy said. “It’s exciting to try to get my first win of the season. … Historically, the West Coast hasn’t been that good to me.”
Lowry and McIlroy were encouraged by being together for the last round.
“Let’s hope one of us does the business,” Lowry said.
Straka carried a three-stroke lead into Saturday’s round, but bogeys on the first three holes of the backside were troublesome before he recovered for birdies on four of the last five holes.
So Straka went from a four-stroke lead to trailing the leaders by two shots.
Two weeks ago, Straka won for the third time on the PGA Tour by capturing The American Express.
McIlroy, making his season debut on the PGA Tour, posted birdies on three of the final four holes.
“It’s really cool to be in contention this early in the season,” McIlroy said.
Lowry played the last eight holes in 4 under due to four birdies. He played the first three holes in 4 under, boosted by an eagle 3 on No. 2.
Conditions were described as nasty on the course because of wind and rain. Normally, Lowry said he would “love this place,” but he said the conditions provided a unique challenge.
“I don’t enjoy it,” Lowry said. “I live in Florida for a reason.”
McIlroy said he took a different approach when the wind became such a factor.
“Let’s just try to chip the ball and run,” he said. “It was nice to pick up a few birdies on the way in.”
It sets up with the potential for numerous golfers to rise to the top during the final round.
Australia’s Cam Davis (69), England’s Justin Rose (68) and South Korea’s Tom Kim (68) are tied for fourth at 14 under.
Lucas Glover (68) is seventh at 13 under, followed by Russell Henley (71) at 12 under and Austin Eckroat (71) at 11 under.
“It was nice to kind of stay in it,” said Scottie Scheffler, last year’s world No. 1 golfer. “It was such a tough day out there, I knew guys would be struggling.”
Scheffler (69) said he feels he has an “outside chance” going into the last round. He’s at 10 under in his season debut, but Jordan Spieth’s first tournament of the season has gone sour after his third-round 79 put him at 5 over.
“It’s a fun change of pace,” Scheffler said. “It was an interesting day to say the least.”
Defending champion Wyndham Clark (71) is out of contention at 2 over.
–Field Level Media
