Sepp Straka leads by 3 at Pebble Beach as rough weather awaits the weekend

 

[February 01, 2025]  By DOUG FERGUSON

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Sepp Straka got most of his work done before the weather started to turn Friday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, posting another 7-under 65 for a three-shot lead that left Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and everyone having to chase him.

Straka, coming off a win two weeks ago in the California desert, showed a game that works just fine at sea level in less-than-ideal conditions, particularly the final hour.

Out came the mittens and beanies. Down came the temperature, accompanied by a little rain.

McIlroy went from challenging for the lead to making four bogeys in a six-hole stretch, before he finished his wild back nine at Pebble Beach with a 25-foot eagle putt to salvage a 70 that left him six shots behind.

Scheffler took a walk down the beach on the 18th hole, turning a potential bogey into a par when he hopped down a pair of rock ledges to the sandy soil, managed to get his ball back into play and hit 6-iron to the green. He shot 70 and was seven behind.

Andrew Novak got his first victory on the PGA Tour, which comes with a plaque on the wall off the first tee, not a trip to the Masters. Novak teamed with billionaire investor Philippe Laffont to win the pro-am.

The weekend at Pebble Beach is only for the 79 pros — Ludvig Aberg had to withdraw with an illness that affected him last week at Torrey Pines — and for the hardiest of players.

Gusts approaching 30 mph are in the forecast, along with spots of rain. Pebble Beach, that felicitous meeting of land and sea, is a beast in nasty weather.

“Went from zero to about 20 miles an hour pretty quickly,” Straka said of his final four holes at Pebble Beach, which including missing a 3-foot par putt on the 16th for his only bogey of the round, and a 4-iron into 30 feet for a two-putt birdie at the last.

He was at 14-under 130, three shots ahead of Russell Henley, who had a 69 at Pebble Beach, and Cam Davis of Australia, who had a 68 at Spyglass Hill.

“It's going to change Pebble a lot,” said Tony Finau, who had a 67 at Spyglass Hill and was in a large group at 10-under 134.

“It's unfortunate because Pebble is pure right now, really pure. The ball is bouncing and anytime that’s the case at Pebble, I think it’s pretty magical to play. We’ll have to adjust, just adapt as we do out here and we’ll just have to do that on the weekend.”

Scottie Scheffler hits from the sixth fairway at Pebble Beach Golf Links during the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Pebble Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

McIlroy was magnificent with the driver and didn't get much out of it. Still, he opened with four birdies in seven holes — the scoring stretch at Pebble — until he missed the green on the par-3 12th, hit it heavy out of fairway bunker on the 13th and was out of position off the tee at the 15th and 16th holes, all leading to bogey.

His round ended with an eagle, and he was still in the mix.

Scheffler, in a 2025 debut delayed by minor surgery on his right hand for a freak puncture wound while making ravioli, ran off three straight birdies, including a shot to 2 feet on the tough eighth hole. That was the last of his birdies, but it was the par that saved him.

He pulled his tee shot left on the par-5 18th toward the largest water hazard in golf. Scheffler didn't see the ball carom off the rocks or splash in the Pacific Ocean. His only option was to go forward to the end of the tee box, so he opted to walk 300 yards and take a look.

He spotted a golf ball on the beach — it was his — and was able to move enough small rocks and seaweed to advance that to the fairway and make par.

“The unpredictability was the most difficult part,” Scheffler said. “After the tee ball, I definitely would have taken a par, no complaints.”

Not many from Straka, either, who would appear to be riding some momentum from his victory in The American Express. He attributes much of that to a slight change in his putting, going to a skinnier grip and moving his hands slightly higher.

“Palm Springs was the first time in a long time I felt that I had four really good putting rounds in a row,” Straka said. “Yeah, I think that’s definitely made a huge difference.”

But he pulled back when he was asked if was on a big run.

“A six-round run,” he said. “I mean, no, I would not classify that as a run. I think Scottie Scheffler is on a run.”

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