PGA Tour Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Hisatsune with a Stellar Start – Scheffler and McIlroy Need to Step Up
Folks, hold on tight! At the PGA Tour Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Thursday, Ryo Hisatsune just laid down an incredible career-best 10-under-par 62! With that, he grabs the lead after Round One by one stroke. Meanwhile, defending champion Rory McIlroy and top-ranked Scottie Scheffler still have some serious work ahead to get back into contention.
Hisatsune, the rising star from Japan, sank a total of 10 birdies on the Pebble Beach Golf Links, one of the two courses for the first two rounds, under ideal conditions – and all without a single bogey! What a stellar round!
He sits one stroke ahead of Sam Burns, who posted a 9-under-par 63 at Pebble Beach, with seven of his nine birdies coming on the back nine alone. Also just one stroke back is Keegan Bradley, who excelled at Spyglass Hill with an eagle and seven birdies.
The 23-year-old from Okayama, who won the Open de France on the DP World Tour in 2023, is currently showing strong form in his bid for his first PGA Tour title on U.S. soil. After tying for second behind the dominant winner Justin Rose at Torrey Pines, Hisatsune even led at the halfway point last week at the Phoenix Open and started in the final group on Sunday, ultimately securing a tied 10th place finish.
"I feel much more comfortable on these greens," Hisatsune revealed. And it showed: With just 22 putts, he gained over five strokes on the rest of the field just on the greens! He immediately followed his four-foot birdie putt on the 2nd with a 29-footer on the 3rd and an impressive 39-footer on the 4th. After further birdies on the 6th, 7th, 9th, and 11th, he capped off his already epic round with three consecutive birdies.
Gotterup Ignites Explosive Start
Chris Gotterup, who has catapulted himself to fifth in the world rankings with wins at the Sony Open and in Phoenix, led a group with an 8-under-par score. He started his round with six consecutive birdies and added three more after his only bogey of the day.
"I just kind of floated along," Gotterup said of his dream start. "You don't really realize it at the moment, and then you look up and think: Wow, six under after six holes – that's something!" This run, by the way, followed three closing birdies that earned him a playoff victory over Hideki Matsuyama in Phoenix on Sunday. "I guess nine in a row would be my record," he remarked. "Nine is pretty good."
With rounds of 64, Tony Finau and Patrick Rodgers joined Gotterup, while four other players shared a tie for seventh place with a 65.
Double Bogey Disaster: The Stars Falter
Meanwhile, neither McIlroy nor Scheffler were able to capitalize on the ideal scoring condit-
