The long slog that is the very first 3 days of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am left to a hot start on Thursday as 4 golf players shot 7 under or much better and soared to the top of the leaderboard. No huge names or megastars have actually emerged yet, a board has actually begun to take shape at Pebble Beach, Monterey Peninsula and Spyglass Hill.
Hank Lebioda leads after shooting 8-under 63, however he’s trailed carefully by Kurt Kitayama, Chad Ramey and Harry Hall, all of whom shot 7 under on numerous golf courses. Martin Trainer, Eric Cole and Aaron Baddeley comprise a group that shot 6 under and are a bit additional back.
Let’s take a much deeper take a look at Lebioda’s huge very first day and what’s in shop for him and the rest of the field over the remainder of the week.
The leader
1. Hank Lebioda (-8 )
Lebioda shot 63 at Monterey Peninsula on Thursday, which was playing as the most convenient of the 3 courses utilized over the very first 3 rounds. It was most likely that the first-round leader would originate from this course, however that does not reduce what Lebioda did Thursday. He birdied half the holes he played, headed out in 3 under and got home in 5 under for the 63 (Monterey Peninsula, surprisingly, plays as a par 34 on the front and par 37 on the back). It was the very best rating he’s shot all season and simply the 2nd round he’s shot in the 60 s in 6 competitions.
” Felt like whatever [was going ideal], to be truthful with you,” Lebioda stated. “Hit a great deal of fantastic iron shots. I made the putts when I was close. It was simply a great day. It was an actually great day.”
Lebioda winning today would be stunning. He hasn’t made a cut up until now this year and has actually just split 70 one time. Now to head out and do it versus a few of the very best gamers on the planet at a location like Pebble? The upgraded chances recommend that others are as doubtful as I am, however it would be rather a story of Lebioda might hold on.
Other competitors
T2. Kurt Kitayama, Chad Ramey, Harry Hall (-7 )
T5. Martin Trainer, Eric Cole, Aaron Baddeley (-6 )
T8. Scott Stallings, Ben Martin, Kyle Westmoreland, Keith Mitchell, Harry Higgs (-5 )
The excellent news for Lebioda is that the gamers behind him are not all that strong. Stallings might be an issue– he played some genuinely fantastic golf sometimes in 2022– however beyond that there’s not a lot to be frightened of here.
Where are the stars?
That asks the concern of where Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland seek 18 holes. Hovland led the group by shooting 2 under at Spyglass Hill. Spieth and Fitzpatrick shot 1 under on the exact same golf course (more in a minute on why that’s much better than it looks).
” Spyglass is hard, it’s a hard test,” Spieth stated. “Would have liked to have actually done much better on my front 9. That was truly gettable. I believed I played the back 9 truly well. It was truly unusual the last 4 holes approximately with the wind. It went from absolutely nothing to turning and after that blowing about 25 out of no place the other instructions than the projection. That tosses us through a huge loop when you’re prepping for something and you’ve got to make the change.”
” I understand something, Monterey’s normally the most affordable scoring average and I.ve got to attempt and return into it tomorrow,” he included in the future.
Course ratings
Here are the 3 scoring averages throughout the golf courses on Thursday.
- Monterey Peninsula: 69.8
- Pebble Beach: 71.0
- Spyglass Hill: 72.7
To Spieth’s point, shooting 71 at Spyglass is almost identical to shooting 69 at Pebble Beach. The scoring averages matter possibly more at this competition than at any other occasion on the PGA Tour. As the Hovland-Spieth-Fitzpatrick trio heads to Monterey on Friday, where the scoring average was almost 3 strokes much easier in Round 1, it’s something that’s worth watching on.
2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am upgraded chances and choices
Odds by means of Caesars Sportsbook
- Keith Mitchell: 15/ 2
- VIktor Hovland: 10 -1
- Kurt Kitayama: 11 -1
- Matt Fitzpatrick: 16 -1
- Jordan Spieth: 16 -1
- Harry Hall: 18 -1
We can go on and stop right there. The names I like are Fitzpatrick and Spieth at 16 -1. They’re just one back of Hovland after playing the very same course, which to me does not amount to the distinction that’s represented on the wagering board here. Spieth is such a threat at this competition, and he gets his preferred course– Pebble Beach– for the last 36 holes. If he shoots 66 or 67 on Friday at Monterey, it’s going to be off to the races on the weekend.