World No. 1 Scottie Schleffer’s “weird day” at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am finished in messy yet remarkably brilliant circumstances as Australian Cam Davis remained in the hunt for victory at Spyglass Hill.
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Austria’s Sepp Straka, who won his third PGA Tour title just two weeks ago, fired a seven-under-par 65 to grab the lead after the second round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Straka, who captured the American Express crown at Palm Springs earlier in January, stood on 14-under 130 after 36 holes, three ahead of Davis and US 18-hole leader Russell Henley.
Scheffler, making his 2025 PGA season debut this week, fired a 70 at Pebble Beach to stand on 137.
His topsy-turvy outing on the course was personified by his eventful performance on the par-5 18th hole.
The American shanked his tee shot to the left, with the ball missing the fairway and landing on sand and stones near the water.
Scheffler then spent over five minutes initially assessing whether he could play the ball before moving down to the stones to hit his second shot. Stunningly, he found the fairway to give himself a decent approach shot opportunity.
Scheffler talks through insane beach hit | 02:29
“The way it looked like from the t-box, I was like ‘I guess we should go up there and look’ because I didn’t see a splash or it hit any rocks,” Scheffler said post-round.
“I think the unpredictability was the most difficult part (of his second shot). I was really just trying to get it out and over the rocks and anywhere on grass I’d be pretty happy with.”
Scheffler, with his third shot, found the green before a two-putt to make par.
“It was a weird day,” Scheffler said.
“My swing could definitely have been better. I had a weird combination of putts. I was hitting from 2.5 feet or lag putts all day. I didn’t give myself enough opportunities but didn’t shoot myself out of it.”
Davis makes strong start at Pebble beach | 00:49
Meanwhile, Davis sank a 46-foot eagle chip on the first hole at Spyglass Hill on his way to a 68 but a closing bogey cost him solo second.
It’s his best 36-hole position on Tour since the 2022 Travelers Championship.
“It was great to get off to a hot start with an eagle on the first, that kind of got me moving in the right direction very quickly,” Davis said.
“Honestly, played pretty well for most of the round. It was getting a little tricky to read the wind through the trees here. I think it’s a little more open down at Pebble, but out here it’s a little more swirly.
“A couple more missed greens and a couple loose tee shots, but we recovered well. The bogey on the last was a little annoying, but same time 4-under felt like a pretty solid day today.”
Straka, who fashioned a -65 in the first round, matched the low round at Pebble Beach thanks to eight birdies against a lone bogey despite blustery conditions.
“Hitting the ball really well early in the round and then missed a few putts, but made some really nice putts, too,” Straka said. “It was just all around a pretty solid day.”
Straka said his strong back-to-back efforts isn’t really a run, especially when top-ranked Scottie Scheffler won nine times last year.
A pack sharing fourth on 134 included England’s Justin Rose, South Korean Tom Kim and Americans Andrew Novak, Austin Eckroat and Tony Finau.
Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy endured a rollercoaster round in shooting 70 at Pebble Beach to stand six adrift on 136.
After making four birdies in his first seven holes, McIlroy made bogeys on four out of six on the back nine before closing with a 25-foot eagle putt at 18.
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