Tom Hoge birdied six of his last seven holes in a nine-under-par 63 on Thursday, taking a one-shot lead over an impressive Seamus Power in the first round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Hoge played on the par-72 Pebble Beach Golf Links, one of three courses in use over the first three days along with the par-72 Spyglass Hill and the par-71 Monterey Peninsula layout.
Power had eight birdies in his eight-under 64 at demanding Spyglass Hill – where his score was three strokes better than Tyler Duncan’s next-best outing at Spyglass.
Hoge, who was runner-up to Hudson Swafford at La Quinta in January, got off to a hot start in ideal conditions, rolling in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole at Pebble beach.
“That was really nice to see one go in early,” he said.
Hoge added a short birdie putt at the 11th and a birdie at 18.
He said a three-putt par at the second hole got him “a little fired up” and it showed when he launched his six-birdie burst with a seven-footer at the third.
“Four I was over the back of the green, pretty dead, just trying to get a chance for par and the chip went in somehow,” he said.
He drained a 19-footer for birdie at the fifth, two-putted for birdie from 19 feet at the sixth and rolled in a 12-footer at the seventh. Hoge capped the run with another birdie bomb at the eighth.
Make it six! 🐦 https://t.co/2SIU4k4emq pic.twitter.com/tYf5JYTzY6
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 3, 2022
Power’s bogey-free effort was arguably more impressive. He teed off on 10 at Spyglass and after four birdies in his first 10 holes stormed home with birdies at his last four.
“It was a great finish,” he said. “It’s a funny old golf course – I hit a horrible tee shot on the par-three fifth, had a very good up-and-down to kind of stay at four under and then just kind of clicked coming in, really, made a couple of very nice putts and a couple of very nice shots.”
Sweden’s Jonas Blixt and American Austin Smotherman were a further stroke back at seven-under.
Blixt shook off an opening bogey with eight birdies in a 64 at Monterey Peninsula. Rookie Smotherman had two eagles, five birdies and two bogeys in his 65 at Pebble Beach.
FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay, the highest-ranked player in the field at fourth in the world, carded a six-under 65 at Monterey Peninsula.
“I started off strong and had a weird middle of the round, definitely gave a few away,” Cantlay said. “And then closed really strong. So finishing with three in a row on this golf course is a really nice finish and I’m happy with my start for the week.”
© Agence France-Presse
