Straka regains lead with late Pebble Beach surge

GOLF ROUNDUP

Sepp Straka acknowledges the crowd after playing a shot from a bunker on the 18th hole during the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach Golf Links on Saturday. Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images

Rory McIlroy is tied for second, one shot back, heading into the final round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Ezra Shaw / Getty IMAGES

Image

The Associated Press

Rory McIlroy felt like he was playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am he used to watch on TV, minus the amateur and celebrities filling up the time on Saturday.

The weather brought back romantic images of the old “Crosby Clambake,” with a cold wind whipping off the Pacific Ocean and light rain, generally miserable weather for golf except at Pebble Beach — at least for those watching.

Sepp Straka watched his shot on the 10th sail over the cliff and onto the beach, starting a stretch of three straight bogeys. He rallied with four birdies over the final five holes to salvage a 2-under 70 and a one-shot lead over McIlroy and Shane Lowry.

“You can’t stay dry, ball’s not going where you want it to go, putting is tough. It’s really hard to kind of stay in the moment,” Straka said. “Yeah, I was pretty happy about how I did that today.”

Tom Kim punched a 7-iron from 103 yards down the hill on the seventh. Scottie Scheffler posed after a purely struck 5-iron that was right on target and couldn’t believe when it stopped 155 yards away from where he was standing.

“I bogeyed 9 and parred 10 and I felt like I was gaining on the field, to be honest,” Lowry said. “It might not look like that on TV. But when you’re out there, it was brutal.”

When they trudged off the course, Straka was atop a leaderboard that looked like the European roster for the Ryder Cup — Straka, McIlroy, Lowry, Justin Rose — as the Austrian-born Georgia Bulldog goes for his second straight PGA Tour title.

McIlroy was practically flawless, at least in the nasty conditions, by getting through the exposed stretch of Pebble Beach without dropping a shot and chipping his way around for a bogey-free 65.

“It’s a more authentic experience of what the Pebble Beach Pro-Am is like,” said McIlroy, playing the tournament for only the third time.

Lowry got off to a birdie-eagle-birdie start that allowed for a few mistakes around the turn and he finished with two birdies on the last three holes for a 65.

Just don’t get the idea Irish weather was well-suited for McIlroy (Northern Ireland) and Lowry (Ireland), especially because they now are neighbors in south Florida.

“It might suit me somewhat, but I don’t enjoy it,” Lowry said. “I live in Florida for a reason. I think my game is well-equipped to handle these conditions and I go out there, kind of no fear, and I know I just need to batten down the hatches and make pars when I can.”

Straka, coming off a win in the California desert, blasted out of the sand to 4 feet for one last birdie that putt him at 16-under 200, one shot ahead of McIlroy and Lowry, his Ryder Cup teammates from Marco Simone.

Rose, a Pebble Beach winner in 2023 and part of Team Europe later that year, was another shot behind along with Kim and Cam Davis.

Scottie Scheffler, in his 2025 debut delayed by his hand surgery from a freak puncture wound, held it together for a 69 and was six shots behind.

LPGA TOUR

A Lim Kim maintained a three-shot lead over Linn Grant in the LPGA Tour’s season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, with each shooting 5-under 67 in the final group at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla.

Trying to complete a wire-to-wire victory for her third LPGA Tour title, Kim holed out from greenside bunkers for eagle on the par-5 ninth and birdie on the par-4 14th. The 29-year-old South Korean player also birdied the par-4 18th to get to 15-under 201.

Kim has a field-best 81 putts in three rounds. She won the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open and 2024 LOTTE Championship and has three victories on the Korean tour.

Grant won the 2023 Dana Open for her lone LPGA Tour title. The 25-year-old Swede also closed with a birdie.

“Really trying to figure out where I’m at, all the changes I’ve done, how that feels, and really just trying to get every shot as good as possible,” Grant said. “I think that mindset is good to have any week. It’s just easier now than in the middle of the season.”

Defending champion Lydia Ko and top-ranked Nelly Korda were tied for third, four strokes behind Kim. Ko had a 65 for the best round of the day, and Korda shot 67.

Lauren Coughlin was fifth at 8 under after a 68.