PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. >> Rory McIlroy played a game nearly as magnificent as the Pebble Beach scenery Sunday as he powered his way past a pack of contenders and closed with a 6-under 66 for a two-shot victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

McIlroy is one of the top attractions in golf, which only added to the appeal of the surprising sunshine and crashing surf at America’s most famous coastal golf course. And just like that, a sleepy start to the PGA Tour season had some life to it.

On a day when six players had at least a share of the lead, McIlroy took the top spot for good with an 18-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole into a stiff breeze along the Pacific. He effectively ended the drama with a towering drive and a 7-iron into the 571-yard 14th hole, setting up an eagle putt from just outside 25 feet.

“To win at one of the cathedrals of golf is really cool,” McIlroy said.

Shane Lowry fell out of a share for the lead when he sent his second shot over a cliff to the right of the par-5 sixth. But he shot 31 on the back nine, including a birdie on the final hole for a 68 that gave him second place alone.

Lucas Glover (67) and Justin Rose (68) were another shot behind. Sepp Straka, who started the final round with a one-shot lead, had a 72 and tied for seventh.

Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player whose season was delayed by minor hand surgery from punctured glass while making ravioli, closed with a 67 and tied for ninth.

McIlroy has talked about this being an important year for him, though his focus was more on April through September — an 11th chance to complete the career Grand Slam at the Masters, a return home to Northern Ireland for the British Open, a road Ryder Cup at Bethpage.

This wasn’t a bad start.

“It’s a really cool way to start the season,” said McIlroy, who won for the second time in California. “To get this win this early means a great deal, and hopefully I’ll keep the momentum going into Torrey Pines in a couple weeks’ time.”

The sixth hole began to separate the pack a little. In consecutive groups, Rose went over the cliff with his tee shot and Tom Kim hit down the hill toward the ocean with his second shot. Lowry followed him in the final group, leading to bogey.

But really, McIlroy looked as though he was the player to beat from the second hole, when he hit a tough pitch from 50 yards away over a bunker to a back pin with enough height and spin to set up a 2-foot birdie putt.

But it was after his lone bogey on the tough eighth hole where he pulled away — the 18-foot birdie on the 10th, a tee shot into 8 feet for birdie on the par-3 12th and finally get his due on the 14th hole. McIlroy drilled his drive for the third straight day over a tree, over the bunker complex and into the fairway. The previous two days, he had to settle for par.

This time, he cashed in for an eagle, extending his lead to four shots. And when he hit wedge into 3 feet for birdie on the 15th, it led to one of the best stress-free and gorgeous walks on the PGA Tour.

Kim opens LPGA season by holding off Korda in solid victory

A Lim Kim responded to a late charge by Nelly Korda with three birdies on her final four holes for a 5-under 67 and a two-shot victory in the LPGA season opener at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.

Korda, coming off her seven-win season, holed a 3-foot birdie putt on the par-5 15th to tie for the lead. Kim was in the final group behind her and matched the birdie to regain the lead.

Kim seized control with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th for a two-shot lead, and she capped off her wire-to-wire win with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

“So fun, so good. And then I’m hungry,” Kim said when asked to describe how she was feeling.

Korda closed with a 65 at Lake Nona to start her season with a runner-up finish.

“Yeah, not bad,” Korda said. “I’m never going to complain finishing second in a tournament and giving it a run, especially on a Sunday. There are definitely a couple putts I would like to have back, but overall I think I’m very happy with this week and excited for next week.”

Linn Grant of Sweden shot 69 and finished third, five shots behind. Minjee Lee shot 62 and tied for fourth with Jin Young Ko (65).

Kim, a 29-year-old South Korean best known for her 2020 U.S. Women’s Open title at Champions Golf Club in Houston during the COVID-19 pandemic, now has three LPGA titles. This was her second straight win in which she never trailed after any round, having done the same in Hawaii last year.

She finished at 20-under 268 and won $300,000.