A hat-trick of bogeys and a two-stroke penalty dented Rory McIlroy’s solid start to the Pebble Beach Pro-Am as he carded a first-round one-under 71.
McIlroy got off to a brilliant start on the Spyglass Hill course, finding two birdies for a bogey-free back nine before adding four more birdies to his tally on the first, third, fourth and fifth.
After his birdie run moved him to the top of the leaderboard, McIlroy then suffered the setback of a bogey on the par-four sixth and followed it up with another bogey on the par-five seventh to fall to second.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Rory McIlroy hit four birdies in just five holes as he moved to six-under to top the leaderboard at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
A third bogey in a row on the par-four eighth then saw McIlroy drop further down the leaderboard, finishing in 12th with the first round still under way.
Following his round, the Northern Irishman was then handed a two-stroke penalty after being assessed to have taken an illegal drop on the seventh hole, moving him even further back to one-under and down into 40th.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Rory McIlroy was given a two-shot penalty at the seventh hole as he made a triple-bogey eight to finish on one-under-par after the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“Yeah, played really well for the first 14 holes and then obviously had a bit of a bad finish there,” McIlroy said following his round.
“But for the most of it I hit the ball pretty well. There’s a lot of good stuff in there.
“Had that run of holes on 6, 7 and 8, but I mean apart from that, I actually played very well.
“I feel like my game’s in really good shape. I’m hitting it well, feel comfortable around the greens, on the greens. Yeah, game feels in good shape.
“It was just one of those – I just let it – I had a really score and then just sort of let it get away from me those last few holes.”
Belgium’s Thomas Detry holed a closing birdie to shoot nine-under 63 at Spyglass Hill and capture the first-round lead.
Detry’s birdie at the par-4 18th was his third in a row to close a six-under 30 on the back nine. It pushed him just ahead of Patrick Cantlay, who set the pace earlier in the afternoon with a bogey-free, eight-under 64 at Spyglass Hill.
The 80 players in the signature event’s field are playing one round apiece at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill to open the tournament. They will proceed to Pebble Beach for the weekend rounds without a 36-hole cut as they vie for shares of a $20 million purse.
France’s Matthieu Pavon — who earned his first PGA Tour victory last week at the Farmers Insurance Open in order to qualify — fired the low round of the day at Pebble Beach, a 7-under 65, putting him alone in third place.
Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (Spyglass Hill) and South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (Pebble Beach) are tied for fourth at 6-under 66, and Rickie Fowler (Spyglass Hill) is tied for sixth with Collin Morikawa (Pebble Beach) at 5-under 67.
Get Sky Sports on WhatsApp!
You can now start receiving messages and alerts for the latest breaking sports news, analysis, in-depth features and videos from our dedicated WhatsApp channel!
Sky Sports WhatsApp channel
Find out more here…
Watch the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Featured Group coverage continues live on Friday from 4.30pm on Sky Sports Golf ahead of full coverage from 10.30pm. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and more on NOW.
Get the best prices and book a round at one of 1,700 courses across the UK & Ireland
Get the best prices and book a round at one of 1,700 courses across the UK & Ireland