Spieth was tied for 36th after his 2-under 69 at Monterey Peninsula. Considering his frustrations with the putter early on at the Waste Management, that is a telling stat that Mickelson’s starting to get comfortable with all parts of his game and it’s showing with his scoring early on this week.
Advertisement
He missed the green with what he called his “worst shot of the day” but confidently rattled in a par putt to claim his share of the lead.
Phil Mickelson chips his ball onto the sixth green at Monterey Peninsula Country Club on Friday during the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Spieth stalls: Jordan Spieth, the world’s No. 1 player, needs a weekend surge to climb into contention.
Kang and Iwata have the lead but some big names are lurking.
“I still thought the par was 72”, he said.
Kyle Stanley (73 at Spyglass) of Gig Harbor and Andres Gonzales (74 at Monterey) of Olympia were in the group tied for 75th at even par.
The South Korean, whose celebrity partner this week is comedian Ray Romano, started with a birdie at the 10th and covered the back nine in just 31 blows, carding four birdies and an eagle at the long 16th.
He scrambled for par and an 11-under 60, a personal best and the course record. He didn’t birdie one of the par-5’s or else it could have been a 59.
Hiroshi Iwata was among the standout performers at the host Pebble Beach layout, his 66 enough to join Kang on 11-under, one clear of Mickelson who was joined by Freddie Jacobson and Chez Reavie.
After his round, Spieth was asked if he knew what his best score was at Pebble Beach – in this event it is a 67. That’s just what Iwata did, as he was 6-under on the front.
Beginning on the back nine, Reavie was 4 under, including an eagle on the 11th, after four holes.
Monterey Peninsula was a course you had to take it low at. But the greens being poa annua are what I grew up on, so it’s a grass I feel comfortable on. “I played the hardest holes on this golf course four under par”, he said.
As he said, “I just couldn’t get the ball in the hole”.
Andrew Landry (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 1-over 73 at Pebble Beach (143). His first round 6-under-par 66 at Spyglass put him in a great position. Pebble Beach again played the toughest by a small margin over Spyglass Hill….
While he returned to action last season, he was unable to retain his playing status and had to head to Web.com Tour Finals to earn back his card. After turning in 1-over-par, Day took advantage of the 3 par-5’s on the backside by playing those holes 4-under-par. “It will be my first competitive round ever at Pebble, so it will be a good day”.
Advertisement
The same fate faces defending champion Brandt Snedeker, who shot his second straight even-par round and was tied with Johnson. It was the first 60 on tour since J.J. Henry did it in the 2013 Shriners.
