Johnson shares the lead at Pebble Beach
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif.— Three days of good golf, great weather and plenty of laughs has put Dustin Johnson in a tie for the lead at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Now it’s time for the No. 1 player to get to work.
At stake on Sunday is a shot at his third victory at Pebble Beach that would strengthen his grip on No. 1 in the world. Missing will be his sidekick, Wayne Gretzky, puffing on his cigar and keeping it light. The Great One cited a sore back when he withdrew Saturday from the pro-am.
“Sunday you start focusing just a little bit more,” Johnson said after a birdie on the 18th hole for a 2-under 70, tying him with Ted Potter Jr. “Probably should have had a little bit more focus today maybe, but I still got it around OK. But yeah, on Sunday we’re trying to win the golf tournament. … I definitely have a lot of confidence, and I know if I go out and play really well tomorrow, I’m going to have a really good chance to win.”
Potter shot a 62 at Monterey Peninsula and left wondering how much better it could have been. Potter, with virtually no one watching his round because the stars were at Pebble, was 11 under with three holes to play, needing only one birdie and two pars for a 59.
He bogeyed the last two holes, which at least was enough to tie for the lead.
“I didn’t feel like I hit bad shots coming in there on the last couple, making bogeys there, but I just knew it was going to be tough coming in,” Potter said.
They were at 14-under 201, and with more wind in the forecast—compared with virtually none earlier in the week—this could have plenty of possibilities.
Johnson is going for his second straight PGA Tour victory having won by eight shots at Kapalua to start the year. He also is virtually assured of being only the fifth player since the world ranking began in 1986 to be No. 1 for an entire year.
Pebble Beach is not yet his personal playground, but Johnson thrives on the course. Even with three bogeys on the back nine that stalled his momentum, his 70 was the ninth consecutive time he broke par. He has made 52 birdies in his last nine rounds at Pebble.
“Just made a couple mistakes there on the back nine, made a couple bogeys, just got a little bit out of position,” Johnson said. “But all in all, the game’s pretty sharp. I feel like it’s in really good form going into tomorrow.”
Jason Day, coming off a playoff victory at Torrey Pines two weeks ago, had a 69 at Pebble Beach and was two shots behind along with Troy Merritt, who had the lead until four bogeys over his last six holes at Monterey Peninsula for a 69.
Jon Rahm birdied his last three holes at Spyglass Hill and worked his way back into contention with a 70.