GOLF: Ryo Hisatsune leads pack at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Ryo Hisatsune of Japan made 158 feet of putts on his way to a 10-under-par 62 to seize the first-round lead at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the first signature event of the 2026 PGA Tour season, on Thursday in Pebble Beach, California.

Despite losing strokes off the tee and on approach compared to the field, Hisatsune relied on a red-hot short game to card 10 birdies without a bogey at Pebble Beach Golf Links. He capped his round with three consecutive birdies to take a one-shot lead into Friday over Sam Burns (63 at Pebble Beach) and Keegan Bradley (63 at Spyglass Hill).

The field is playing one round each at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course before the final two rounds return exclusively to Pebble Beach. There is no 36-hole cut in the $20 million signature event.

Hisatsune’s early fireworks on the greens included a 28 1/2-foot birdie putt at No. 3, followed by a 39-foot birdie at No. 4. He added a chip-in from the greenside rough at No. 16 to spark his closing stretch.

“I like these greens. I like poa annua greens — they’re much easier,” Hisatsune said. “I feel more comfortable playing on these greens. That’s probably why I felt so comfortable out there. I was very lucky.”

The 23-year-old qualified for the tournament through the Aon Swing 5 standings after collecting enough FedEx Cup points early in the season to earn a spot. He tied for second at the Farmers Insurance Open and tied for 10th at last week’s WM Phoenix Open.

Bradley’s bogey-free 63 at Spyglass Hill was highlighted by an 11-foot eagle putt at the par-5 seventh hole.

“At No. 6, I hit a 9-iron to about two or three feet, which is never easy out here, and made that,” Bradley said. “Then I hit a 5-wood to about 15 feet and made that for eagle. I also made a long one from the fringe at No. 8, and from there I just got going.”

Back at Pebble Beach, Burns surged up the leaderboard with a 7-under 29 on the back nine. He totaled 158 feet, 9 inches of putts for the round — edging Hisatsune’s mark by nine inches.

“It was nice. I made a lot of putts and felt like I was hitting it really well,” Burns said. “It was a good combination today.”

Tony Finau and Patrick Rodgers each shot 8-under 64 at Spyglass Hill, while Chris Gotterup matched that score at Pebble Beach. Gotterup, who birdied his first six holes, is the early FedEx Cup points leader with two victories already this season at the Sony Open in Hawaii and the WM Phoenix Open.

“I was kind of just cruising,” Gotterup said. “You don’t really realize it in the moment, and then you look up and think, ‘Wow, I’m 6 under through six — that’s pretty good.’”

Akshay Bhatia, Andrew Novak and Tom Hoge (Pebble Beach) are tied at 7-under 65 along with Canada’s Nick Taylor (Spyglass Hill). Jordan Spieth posted a 6-under 66 at Spyglass Hill, highlighted by a hole-out eagle at the par-4 18th.

Making his first U.S. start of the year, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy carded a 4-under 68 at Spyglass Hill. The defending champion’s up-and-down round included one eagle and two double bogeys at the par-3 third and fifth holes.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler struggled to find momentum, closing with a birdie to salvage an even-par 72 at Pebble Beach. He rebounded from an opening-round 73 last week in Phoenix to finish tied for third, giving him some recent confidence to draw upon.

“At a place like this, you never know what the weather is going to do,” Scheffler said. “I’ll probably need a little help from the weather. If we get a few more days like this, it’s going to be pretty tough to catch up.” -Field Level Media/Reuters