Notes: Stanford alum Rodgers is three shots back of leaders.
Scott Ostler: So who is coleader Ted Potter Jr., anyway?
PEBBLE BEACH — To casual fans, Patrick Rodgers lacks the name recognition of his colleagues in the celebrated high school class of 2011.
There’s a good reason for this. Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas have won majors and climbed into the top 10 in the world, and Daniel Berger and Xander Schauffele also own victories on the PGA Tour.
Rodgers, restless to pocket his first win, gave himself a chance by shooting 3-underpar 69 on Saturday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He will begin Sunday’s final round at 11-under-par, three strokes behind co-leaders Dustin Johnson and Ted Potter Jr.
Rodgers, a Stanford alum, shares the school record of 11 victories with Tiger Woods and Maverick McNealy. He’s made 91 starts on tour, with eight top-10s; that includes runner-up finishes in July at the John Deere Classic and in May 2015 at the Wells Fargo Championship.
“It’s been a lot of hard work, and so far I haven’t got any reward for it,” Rodgers said of his early play this year. “But I feel like I’ve been really close to playing great golf, and it’s nice to see it paying off this week. I’m starting to get more and more control each day.”
Rodgers will play in the third-to-last group Sunday, alongside his amateur partner (Charles Schwab) and the world’s No. 2-ranked player in Jon Rahm.
McIlroy misses cut: Rory McIlroy didn’t reach the final round in his AT&T debut.
McIlroy, playing alongside his dad, Gerry, shot 72 at Pebble Beach on Saturday. He finished at 1-under-par for the week, two strokes short of advancing to Sunday.
“I let the greens get into my head a little bit yesterday, and it was hard to get out of that mind-set,” McIlroy said after his round Saturday. “So a little bit of work over the next few days and get myself ready for Riviera.”
Other notable players to miss the cut included J.B. Holmes, Patrick Reed, Gary Woodland, Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Padraig Harrington and Portola Valley’s McNealy. Lefty spins his wheels: Phil Mickelson made 16 pars Saturday at Pebble, with one early birdie (on No. 2) and one late bogey (on No. 18). He will begin Sunday’s final round at 9-under, five strokes off the lead.
“I let a lot of good opportunities slide,” Mickelson said. “But I’m excited about playing here on the weekend with a chance, even though I’ll have to go a little bit lower (Sunday) than I would have liked.” Briefly: Steve Stricker, who turns 51 on Feb. 23, heads into Sunday’s play at 11-under, three strokes off the lead. … Kevin Streelman and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald lead the pro-am competition at 29under, one shot ahead of Paul Casey and businessman Donald Colleran.