AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am recap

Golf fans received another exciting week of golf as the PGA stayed out west for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, played at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California.

Despite poor conditions on the final two days, the players stepped up their game, giving this weekend another ending that many golf fans enjoyed just as much as the previous weekend.

Pebble Beach can be a tough course as nine of the holes are along the coastline of Carmel Bay that feeds to the Pacific Ocean, and one shot too far to the right can mean danger. This posed a major challenge on Saturday and Sunday, as the players dealt with strong winds and rain.

In this tournament, the field is smaller, so there is no cut, which affects the leaderboard each day.

Round 1 started out competitive as most of the field shot even par or better. Ryo Hisatsune finished the day as the leader after shooting a bogey-free, -10, 62. However, Keegan Bradley and Sam Burns stayed close as they came in at 9 under par, 63 to be 1 shot out of the lead.

Round 2 had the same agenda, with players coming in with low scores to keep the leaderboard tight. Hisatsune would stay in the lead after shooting a -5, 67 to put him at a total of -15 after both rounds. However, he was not alone.

After shooting a -7, 65 on day 1, Akshay Bhatia would shoot 1 better with an -8, 64 to tie him with Hisatsune. Rickie Fowler would shoot the same, and with his Thursday round of -6, 66, he would sit at -14 and one back from the 2 leaders. Burns would also stay put, but tied with Fowler, after shooting -5, 67.

Round 3 was when things would get challenging, as the winds picked up and the rain began to fall. The conditions went from great to bad in less than twenty-four hours.

Bhatia would continue his momentum, coming in with a -4, 68 and taking sole possession of 1st at the conclusion of the round. However, new names would arise while others would fall from the top of the leaderboard.

Collin Morikawa, Sepp Straka and Jake Knapp would all jump up and finish tied for 2nd with a total of -17, just 2 strokes behind Bhatia. Jacob Bridgeman would shoot -4, 68 to put him in 3rd.

Players that were at the top, such as Hisatsune, Fowler, Burns and Bradley would fall as all of them would shoot even or worse, lowering their winning chances.

The conditions on Sunday for the final round were no better, so anyone at the top, just like last weekend, had a shot. After 3 under par rounds for Bhatia, he lost out on his chance to win after shooting an even par, 72 to finish his weekend.

Scottie Scheffler would once again try to pull another comeback but would come up 2 strokes short of the winning score. Despite coming up short, he had three eagles, which was a first in his professional career.

Tommy Fleetwood would also have a strong round after starting out the day with a bogey. He ended up with 7 birdies to shoot a -6, 66 to tie Scheffler at 3rd.

It was now down to Straka, Min Woo Lee and Morikawa. Lee would finish with a -7, 65 to put his total at -21, which at the time put him in the lead. However, he was 3 groups ahead as Straka and Morikawa were in the final group.

Straka would land on the green in 2 on the par-5 eighteenth and nail the eagle putt to also tie him for the lead at -21. It was now up to Morikawa to finish the hole with a birdie or better, or else it would be back-to-back weekends with a playoff.

After a bogey on 17 to give up the lead, Morikawa just needed to play the hole cleanly to capture the win. After being on the fringe for his 3rd shot, he decided to take his chance and go for the long putt. Well, his decision worked out, and after having a short putt for birdie, Colin Morikawa would win for the first time in twenty-eight months.

Next week closes out the west-coast stretch as the tour heads to The Genesis Invitational, which is being played at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. Ludvig Åberg is the reigning winner of this tournament.

Julia Nawalany is a first-year student studying broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email jrn5527@psu.edu.