Wet and wild
Rain, wind are factors now at Pebble Beach Pro-Am
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Phil Mickelson survived a wild finish to his round without having to deal with the rain. Jordan Spieth endured a wet finish to his day with three tough pars.
Both were atop the leaderboard Friday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am — joined by Paul Casey, Lucas Glover and Scott Langley — when the second round was suspended because large puddles had formed on the greens.
Everyone played more golf than expected after tournament officials moved up tee times by an hour, and as is often the case at this event, it was entertaining as ever.
One day after Mickelson didn’t miss a single fairway for the first time in 1,664 rounds on the PGA Tour, he couldn’t seem to find one at Spyglass Hill. He still managed to surge into the lead with his typical creativity, including one 3-wood shot from 256 yards out of the trees that landed six feet from the hole on the par-5 14th.
It caught up with him at the end. After banging in a birdie on the par-3 fifth, Mickelson missed three straight fairways that led to three straight bogeys until he closed with a birdie for a 4-under-par 68.
“I hate not finishing the round off, making three bogeys after having a pretty good round going in,” Mickelson said. “I’m also lucky to get done now and get the round over with … guys unfortunately are still out there playing in some tough stuff.”
Mickelson was the first to finish at 10-under 133. Glover started strong in tame weather at Pebble Beach and shot a 6-under 66 to get to 10-under 134. Casey, who shot a 7-under 64 at Monterey Peninsula, and Langley (69 Spyglass Hill) narrowly finished at 10-under 133.
Three short soundings of a horn signaled the stoppage of play for the rest of the day, but because it wasn’t a dangerous situation, such as lightning, players could complete the hole. Casey was on his final hole at Monterey when he heard the horn blast, followed by two more.
“I went from upset to happy in an instant,” he said.
Spieth was one of 44 players who had to return this morning — weather permitting — to finish the last two holes of his round. Part of him was happy to be off the course considering the fight he had on his hand in cold, raw rain with increasing wind. He shot 31 on the back nine at Spyglass Hill to get in the mix, and he missed two good birdie chances to start the front nine.
Baylor School graduate Keith Mitchell, who had been tied for ninth after the opening round, was among those in 45th at 3 under with two holes to play at Monterey Peninsula. Stephan Jaeger, another former Red Raiders standout, was tied for 97th at 1 over after a 70 on the same course.
Showers are in the forecast both today and Sunday.
BOCA RATON, Fla. — Jesper Parnevik opened with a 9-under 63 at the Oasis Championship and held a one-stroke lead over Bernhard Langer.
Parnevik had birdies on Nos. 4-7 on his final nine on The Old Course at Broken Sound. The 53-year-old Swede won the 2016 Insperity Invitational for his lone PGA Tour Champions victory.
Langer closed with birdies on Nos. 17 and 18. The 61-year-old German won the 2010 event and finished second last year, two strokes behind Mark Calcavecchia.
Woody Austin, Tim Petrovic, Gene Sauers and Ken Tanigawa were tied for third at 65 in the first full-field event of the season, and Tom Byrum, Marco Dawson, Tom Lehman and Kevin Sutherland followed at 66.
Chattanooga’s Gibby Gilbert III, playing his first full season on the 50-and-older tour, opened with a 71 and was tied for 42nd. He offset his three bogeys with two birdies plus an eagle on the par-5 18th.
Parnevik goes low
American in lead
BARWON HEADS, Australia — American golfer Kim Kaufman’s 7-under 66 moved her to the top of the LPGA leaderboard at the Vic Open, where she held a two-stroke lead at 13 under through 36 holes at the 13th Beach Golf Links.
Japan’s Haru Nomura was in second place after her second straight 67, with Australia’s Su Oh another stroke back in third after a 68. Like Kaufman, Nomura played the Creek Course after opening on the Beach Course. Oh was on the Beach after opening on the Creek.
In the European Tour men’s event being played concurrently with the women’s tournament, first-round leader Nick Flanagan shot a 4-under 68 and shared the 36-hole lead with Jason Scrivener, who shot a 68 as both played the Beach.
Wade Ormsby (66 Creek) was a stroke behind the co-leaders, with Matt Jager (66 Creek) and Brad Kennedy (65 Beach) another stroke behind in an all-Australian top five.
The men and women are teeing off in alternate groups at the event. The Beach is being played as a par72 for both men and women; the Creek is par-72 for men and par-73 for women. Both fields are playing the Beach in the third round.