Bhatia’s big birdie helps him win the wind and take the lead – The Mercury News

Written by Doug Ferguson
The Associated Press

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Pebble Beach started to show its ugly side Saturday with wind whipping golf balls onto the green in the chilly Pacific air. Akshay Bhatia did enough early with six birdies in seven holes to take him to a 4-under 68 and a two-shot lead at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

But the worst could still happen.

Starting times have been moved up one hour for the final round with high winds and rain forecast, time for players to hold on by the seat of their rain pants.

Low scores were still available. Former Cal player Collin Morikawa, a two-time major champion trying to end a more than two-year winless streak, had 11 birdies in his round of 62 to move him 25 places up the leaderboard and tied for second with Jake Knapp (66) and Sepp Straka (67).

Bhatia started the third round with a lead share with Ryo Hisatsune and threatened to make it a runaway. Pebble’s recipe if the wind doesn’t blow – and the day hasn’t started yet – is to take advantage of the opening seven holes. Bhatia followed that script perfectly with six birdies, only one outside 10 feet. He led by five shots.

He won 47 holes of this signature event until his first bogey when a stiff wind sent his tee shot well over the green on the par-3 12th. He dropped another shot on the par-3 17th when the wind knocked his shot down the hole and he missed a 4-foot putt.

He went from 30 to 38, which is exactly what Pebble Beach did with the wind. Still, Bhatia was 19-under 197.

Even without “Celebrity Saturday” from the old days of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am — this is the third year the old Clambake has become a signature button-down event — there’s no shortage of entertainment.

Knapp, a swinging Southern Californian, started and finished with an eagle. He holed out from 130 yards on the par-4 first hole, and rode the wind to close to 12 feet for eagle on the par-5 18th.

Sam Burns also went outside for an eagle to start his day, giving him a temporary lead. He didn’t finish with an eagle, but it’s not that surprising – a shot from the green that sits on the video board behind the green, then a chip that rattles the pin and lands for birdie.

Burns shot a 72 and was five behind a group that included Tommy Fleetwood (67) and Maverick McNealy (63).

Defending champion Rory McIlroy was 10 shots behind, and he could count five holes back. He had a triple bogey (he drove into the shore on No. 4) and a double bogey (he drove out of bounds to the right on No. 18) in his third-round 72. He had a pair of double bogey putts from 5 feet on Thursday. And he had a shank that led to a bogey on the par 5 on Friday.

Scottie Scheffler’s best hope was to extend his streak of top 10s on the PGA Tour to 18. He had a bogey-free 67 that allowed him to get one shot off the lead – he was eight back.

Sunday’s presentation may have come down to the last hour – two teams completed two holes. Jacob Bridgeman, who shot 68 and was three behind, played from the beach on the 18th. Min Woo Lee (70) was 75 yards across the fairway at the fence, and finally decided to drop a penalty on the carriageway. And then his golf ball kept going over his putt. It took about 50 minutes to play the hole.

Hisatsune, who was 74, kept changing his golf ball on the 18th green because it kept moving. He missed his 6-foot par putt, then waited more than 10 seconds because it looked like the wind might blow it into the cup.

No one expected to walk around in the sea.

“It’s not always going to be good. Funny things are going to happen and you have to deal with them,” Knapp said. “I think anytime you get bad things and things like that you have to do a good job of not letting it get in your way.”