Tom Hoge strung together six birdies in a row near the end of his round to post a 9-under 63 and take the first-round lead at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Thursday in Pebble Beach, Calif.
The 32-year-old leads Ireland’s Seamus Power by one stroke, with Austin Smotherman and Sweden’s Jonas Blixt tied for third at 7 under.
It marks the first time in his PGA career he has held a tournament lead outright after 18 holes.
Hoge pulled off his low round at the tournament’s primary course, Pebble Beach Golf Links. Everyone in the field will play one round apiece at Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula before Pebble Beach hosts the final round following a 54-hole cut.
Hoge started on the back nine and opened with two birdies before arriving at the tee at No. 3 just 3 under for the round. That’s where he began his birdie run, which featured a chip-in at the par-4 fourth hole and a 40-foot putt at the par-4 eighth.
“It’s hard to be in a bad mood out here,” Hoge said. “I mean, Pebble Beach and perfect weather is about as good as it gets. … I feel like I’ve been playing well. I’ve been excited to get out here on the golf course and feel like at Pebble Beach is a golf course that suits me well, so I was excited to get out here this week.”
Though still searching for his first PGA Tour win, Hoge has two top-five finishes this season, including second two weeks ago at The American Express.
Power’s bogey-free, 8-under 64 came at Spyglass Hill. He wrapped up the round with four straight birdies on the front nine.
“It’s a funny old golf course,” Power said. “I hit a horrible tee shot on the par-3 fifth, had a very good up-and-down to kind of stay at 4 (under) and then just kind of clicked coming in, really, made a couple of very nice putts and a couple of very nice shots.”
Patrick Cantlay, the reigning FedEx Cup champion and highest-ranked player in the field, carded a 6-under 65 at Monterey Peninsula, tying him with Andrew Putnam for fifth.
Cantlay made three birdies over his first six holes, fell back with consecutive bogeys at Nos. 7 and 8 and recovered with five birdies on the back nine, including the last three holes.
“I think that you definitely need to do your scoring here, and depending upon how Spyglass is set up that could be really tough with the greens being bouncy, but if you look at the scores, year after year, they’re always high teens,” Cantlay said.
Defending champion Daniel Berger withdrew Wednesday before the tournament began due to a back injury.
–Field Level Media