Slowly however certainly, the massive names have begun climbing the leaderboard on the 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. While the 36-hole lead belongs to two-time DP World Tour winner Kurt Kitayama at 9 underneath, it’s each the names beneath his on the leaderboard and the following weekend climate that can decide the result of this match.
Viktor Hovland made a noticeable transfer in his second spherical with a 4-under 67 on the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula. Reaching 5 underneath for the week, he’s now set to tackle Pebble Beach over the ultimate 36 holes. The Norwegian can be joined by Jordan Spieth at 4 underneath and Matt Fitzpatrick at 2 underneath at this week’s essential golf course. Keith Mitchell and Seamus Power, who stand at 8 underneath and seven underneath, respectively, may also take to Pebble Beach on Saturday, starting the latter levels of this match a bit nearer to Kitayama.
For Kitayama and the remainder of the sector, probably the most troublesome of the climate situations have but to be seen. With winds projected to achieve as much as 40 mph on Saturday and heavy rainfall predicted for Sunday’s spherical, gamers is not going to solely must hold their nerve, however battle the weather at Pebble Beach.
The chief
1. Kurt Kitayama (-9)
Twice a winner on the DP World Tour, Kitayama appears to be like so as to add his first trophy on the PGA Tour. The lack of {hardware} will not be for lack of attempting; he grabbed a third-place end on the Honda Classic earlier than runner-up outcomes got here on the Mexico Open and Scottish Open in 2022. Kitayama’s familiarity with not solely windy situations, however this space, might propel him to the winner’s circle.
“Yeah, I grew up in northern California,” mentioned Kitayama. “So I got to play Spyglass quite a bit. Not so much here [Pebble Beach] and Monterey. But I’ve seen it before and definitely feeling a lot more comfortable this time around. It’s always nice playing here. It’s nice being here.”
Other contenders
T2. Hank Lebioda, Keith Mitchell, Brandon Wu, Joseph Bramlett (-8)
T6. Seamus Power, Satoshi Kodaira, Scott Stallings, Garrick Higgo, Eric Cole, Ryan Moore (-7)
T12. Denny McCarthy, Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland, Kevin Yu, Harry Higgs, Andrew Novak, Peter Malnati, Martin Trainer, Brent Grant, Richy Werenski (-6)
Hovland returns to Pebble Beach on Saturday for the primary time since 2020. Winning his U.S. Amateur title right here in 2018, Hovland can have fond recollections as he enters the weekend on the outskirts of competition. With a victory underneath his belt simply two begins in the past on the Hero World Challenge, the blustery and doubtlessly downright depressing situations over the ultimate 36 holes ought to favor the person from Norway.
“Just got to keep hitting it like I have been,” mentioned Hovland. “Hopefully try to get the ball a little bit closer. I need to start to see some putts go in. I haven’t made a whole lot. The greens especially here at Monterey, they got a little bouncy towards the end there. So just got to know that. But it would be nice to roll in a few.”
Course scores
The flip within the climate close to the tip of Round 1 endured into Friday. As such, Pebble Beach performed far more troublesome for rivals because the uncovered nature of the golf course was unable to defend itself. Below are the scoring averages in relation to par for all three programs in Round 2:
- Monterey Peninsula: -1.27
- Pebble Beach: +0.57
- Spyglass Hill: +1.04
Power’s spherical of seven underneath at Monterey Peninsula went for the spherical of the day from a strokes-gained perspective. While there have been others to card rounds of 5 underneath on the identical golf course, a pair of 4 unders at Spyglass Hill from Satoshi Kodaira and Robby Shelton allowed them to realize greater than 5 strokes on the sector and made for the second-best spherical on Friday.
Brace yourselves, climate is coming
Between the amateurs and impending climate, the golf can be very sluggish over the weekend at Pebble Beach. Starting at 10 a.m. PST, winds are anticipated to achieve 15 mph and enhance because the day progresses. At 1 p.m., they’ll maintain at 20-30 mph with gusts as much as 40 mph.
The good news for rivals is there should not be any rain on Saturday. The unhealthy news is there can be some on Sunday. As a lot as a half-inch of rainfall is predicted through the last spherical in unison with 20-25 mph winds. With the forecast, there may be definitely the potential for delays — and perhaps even a Monday end — which might be lower than best given the primary full-field elevated occasion begins subsequent week on the Phoenix Open.
2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am up to date odds and picks
Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook
- Seamus Power: 27/4
- Keith Mitchell: 8-1
- Scott Stallings: 9-1
- Kurt Kitayama: 10-1
- Viktor Hovland: 10-1
- Joseph Bramlett: 11-1
- Justin Rose: 11-1
- Brandon Wu: 14-1
- Denny McCarthy: 16-1
- Satoshi Kodaira: 22-1
- Garrick Higgo: 25-1
- Jordan Spieth: 28-1
- Tom Hoge: 30-1
- Kevin Yu: 30-1
Those on Spyglass Hill may very well obtain a reprieve from the climate due to some timber that may defend gamers on the inward 9. With Monterey and Pebble Beach out within the open, gamers akin to Jordan Spieth at 28-1 and Matt Fitzpatrick at 100-1 nonetheless current some intrigue. Both will play on Pebble on Saturday and have confirmed to thrive in troublesome, windy situations. The successful rating could possibly be as excessive as 10 underneath because of the situations. If both are in a position to put up a crimson determine on Saturday, this momentum could snowball into a victory come Sunday.