Spieth (65) tied at Pebble
Jordan Spieth knew the pin position on the ninth hole at Spyglass Hill as much by memory as by sight, which was a good thing considering the fog creeping across the Monterey Peninsula on Friday.
The crowd behind the green couldn’t see Spieth, only a golf ball that landed behind the flag and spun back three feet below the cup. Spieth tapped that in for his eighth birdie of the round and a seven-underpar 65 that put him atop the leaderboard in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Spieth was at 10-under 133. Derek Fathauer was eight under for his round at Pebble Beach and tied with Spieth at 10 under. Fathauer had to return Saturday morning to finish his round on the ninth hole. The bigger threat might be Jason Day, the world’s No. 1 player, who was seven under through 12 holes at Spyglass when play was stopped. Day was at nine under.
Patrick Reed, who withdrew two weeks ago from the European Tour event in Australia next week because of a respiratory infection, was at nine under and had one hole to play at Monterey Peninsula.
Spieth mainly was thrilled that he finished just before the horn sounded to suspend play again, this time for fog.
It’s hard to know where anyone stands until three rounds are completed, let alone when only 33 out of 154 players were done with the second round. Spieth only knew that his swing was dialed in and his putter was coming around.
“I didn’t feel any nerves out there, even though I knew I was toward the lead, just because so much could happen with three courses,” he said. “The first two rounds, it’s been easy. Tomorrow might feel a little different. But in my opinion, I’m at 10 under now. If I can try and just make two [birdies] a side at Pebble Beach each time, and make up for the bogeys with maybe another birdie, it may be good enough.”
The sun, rarely seen this week, is supposed to be make an appearance this weekend. Spieth and Day will play Pebble the final two rounds, and it typically is the easiest when the weather is benign.
Champions Tour
Olin Browne had eight birdies in a nine-hole stretch and shot a nine-under 63 to take the first-round lead in the PGA Champions Tour’s Allianz Championship at Boca Raton, Fla.
Kenny Perry, who eagled the par-five first hole, was two strokes back. Bernhard Langer opened with a 71, making a double bogey on the par-four ninth. The 59year-old German is coming off a victory in the seasonopener in Hawaii.