One of many hottest gamers on the earth over the past two weeks couldn’t be extinguished on Thursday at Pebble Seashore Golf Hyperlinks. Ryo Hisatsune continued to stoke the flame in his opening spherical of the 2026 AT&T Pebble Seashore Professional-Am, signing for a bogey-free, 10-under 62 to seize the early lead within the first signature occasion of the season.
Hisatsune’s 62 represents his lowest profession spherical on the PGA Tour, and it is available in his match debut at Pebble Seashore. His earlier low of 63 got here simply final weekend on the WM Phoenix Open, the place he completed in a share of tenth place. The younger man from Japan rolled in additional than 150 ft of putts and even chipped in for birdie on the par-4 sixteenth to start out a run of three straight into the clubhouse.
His lead going into Friday, the place he’ll play at Spyglass Hill, is only a single stroke over American Sam Burns, who was equally on hearth on the greens en path to his 63. Keegan Bradley got here in late on the similar quantity as he missed an opportunity on his final gap to tie the course report on Spyglass. Burns simply barely led the sector in strokes gained placing on Thursday, gaining greater than 5 strokes with the wand in hand. Hisatsune cleared greater than 5 strokes on the greens as nicely.
“Anytime you’ll be able to go bogey-free, no matter the place you are enjoying, is all the time a superb factor, and particularly to do it round right here,” Burns stated. “It was good. I made a big quantity of putts and really feel like I used to be hitting it fairly good. It was a superb mixture for right this moment. The climate was good, so we had been simply making an attempt to benefit from the day.”
Pebble Seashore performed practically 4 strokes underneath par in Spherical 1, whereas Spyglass Hill performed roughly two strokes harder.
Whereas situations had been ripe for the taking, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler struggled but once more within the opening chorus. One week after beginning his match with a 73, his first over-par spherical since June 2025, the four-time main champion signed for a 72 to fall 10 strokes off the tempo — the identical deficit he confronted after 18 holes on the WM Phoenix Open.
Over on Spyglass Hill, Bradley was the low man with a stellar 9-under efficiency. The latest U.S. Ryder Cup captain seems to have discovered one thing, whereas Jordan Spieth confirmed indicators of life with a bogey-free 66. In the meantime, final yr’s champion, Rory McIlroy, bumped into some pace bumps on the greens and signed for a 68 to open up his title protection regardless of a pair of double bogeys.
Chief
1. Ryo Hisatsune (-10): The expertise is starting to stack up for the 23-year-old. Hisatsune was a member of the ultimate group at Torrey Pines on Sunday, the place he completed runner-up to Justin Rose, and he was within the remaining group on Saturday on the WM Phoenix Open alongside his golf hero, Hideki Matsuyama, earlier than finally cashing a prime 10 end. Taking part in with severe confidence, the right-hander wielded the putter successfully in Spherical 1, cashing putts from 42, 31, 17, 16, 13 and 12 ft. He famous that he loves placing on these poa annua placing surfaces, however his ball-striking might want to enhance over the subsequent 54 holes if he’s to show this momentum into his first victory on the PGA Tour.
Contenders
T2. Sam Burns, Keegan Bradley (-9)
T4. Chris Gotterup, Tony Finau, Patrick Rodgers (-8)
T7. Nick Taylor, Akshay Bhatia, Andrew Novak, Tom Hoge (-7)
T11. Russell Henley, Jake Knapp, Jordan Spieth, Sepp Straka, Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick, Patrick Cantlay, Mackenzie Hughes (-6)
Lot of huge names on the primary and second pages of the leaderboard, together with Gotterup, who has already received twice this season, however it’s laborious to not discover what Spieth completed on Spyglass. Not solely did he gap out for eagle on the par-4 ninth, he additionally managed his method across the par 72 with out dropping a shot, sustaining the momentum he had garnered. The explanation? Spieth’s placing from shut vary. Usually good for one miss from close to distance, Spieth was stable inside 10 ft and added makes from 14 and 12 ft, the latter approaching the final gap to save lots of par and keep his bogey-free spherical.
“I believed I used to be actually good on and across the greens,” Spieth stated. “I really did not hit many greens for a way type of nicely I believed I used to be swinging the membership. I pulled just a few type of the unsuitable golf equipment. It is simple to do out right here. You may pull a membership you assume’s going to go far sufficient, and it simply would not go anyplace right here. So I’ve obtained to get a bit tighter on a few of that call making, however after I obtained into hassle, I obtained out of hassle.
“Clearly, holing a wedge shot was in all probability the spotlight of the day. However I simply actually plotted my method round. Once I missed, I missed in the fitting spot. I would prefer to get a bit bit tighter as we go round Pebble, however at Spyglass 6 underneath could also be the very best I ever shot round right here, so, very happy.”
Scheffler’s struggles
For the second straight week, Scheffler will try and mount a comeback from 10 strokes down throughout the ultimate 54 holes of a match. Whereas on the WM Phoenix Open he was upended by one hour out of an in any other case respectable spherical, Scheffler’s first spherical at Pebble Seashore was extra of a gradual bleed. He missed birdie possibilities from 8 ft on Nos. 1-2, linked from that distance on No. 4 after which gave it again from 4 ft on No. 5. A birdie flew onto his scorecard on the par-5 sixth after practically discovering the floor in two, however that was his final birdie till the final gap of the day.
In between them, Scheffler continued to wrestle with the putter — he missed a par putt from simply inside 3 ft on No. 12 — but it surely was the iron play that was uncharacteristically poor. He misplaced about 2.50 strokes on method, ranked 73rd within the 80-man area in that class and failed to present himself seems from gap excessive persistently — a rarity in his recreation.
2026 AT&T Pebble Seashore Professional-Am up to date odds, picks
Odds through DraftKings Sportsbook
- Keegan Bradley: 8-1
- Chris Gotterup: 19/2
- Sam Burns: 10-1
- Ryo Hisatsune: 13-1
- Matt Fitzpatrick: 17-1
- Rory McIlroy: 17-1
- Jake Knapp: 18-1
- Patrick Rodgers: 18-1
For these questioning, Scheffler is listed at 35-1, a far cry from the 3-1 price ticket at match open. No suggestion both method right here, however a 65 appears sure on Friday. McIlroy might finally be the man, although, as he left so many strokes on the market on the greens and nonetheless managed to beat the scoring common on Spyglass by a few strokes. The return to his blades regarded like a sensible transfer, no less than on Thursday.
