Pebble Beach Pro-Am Round 2 Recap and Weekend Preview

At Pebble Beach mid-point Sung Kang leads, Phil Mickelson is one back.

The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is really a three-in-one. Playing on three different courses gives a tournament a new twist. Everybody plays one round each at Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula and then moves to Pebble Beach for the final round.

The courses are all unique, and thus their difficulty level is different. Year in and year out it is Spyglass Hill that plays the toughest of the 3, with Pebble Beach being the 2nd most difficult, and then Monterey Peninsula playing as the easiest course.

Most of the 2nd round fireworks were taking place on Monterey Peninsula. The biggest story was Phil Mickelson starting hot, and getting into contention at an event he has won 4 times. Phil played the more difficult front side of Monterey Peninsula first in which he tore apart for an opening 5-under-par 29. He then moved to the easier back side, which features 3 reachable par-5’s. After an eagle at the par-5 10th to get to 7-under-par on the day, the 59 watch was on for Phil.

Feb 12, 2016; Pebble Beach, CA, USA; PGA golfer Phil Mickelson hits a shot out of the 13th fairway during the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /

He needed to go 5-under-par his last 8 holes to achieve that magical number. Unfortunately, he would play the last 8 in 1-over-par and settled for a 6-under-par 65. He now sits 1 shot back of the lead.

Speaking of the lead, it is co-held by Korean, Sung Kang. He probably didn’t get to 11-under-par the way you might have thought. After an even-par 72, Kang fired a blistering 11-under-par 60 at Monterey. Kang started hot on the easier back 9 that included an eagle at the par-5 16th hole. He preceded to add 5 more birdies on the front for a course record 60. He didn’t birdie one of the par-5’s or else it could have been a 59.

Your other leader is Japan’s Hiroshi Iwata. He shot his second straight 66 today at Pebble Beach to reach 11-under-par. If you are going to get Pebble Beach, you better get it early. It’s no secret the first nine, and more specifically the first 7 holes, is where you can make up shots. That’s just what Iwata did, as he was 6-under on the front. That included an eagle at the par-5 6th hole.

Monterey Peninsula was a course you had to take it low at. Most of the other big names in the field were at Monterey today, so they can play Pebble Beach on Saturday when the TV coverage window is bigger.

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World No. 1 Jordan Spieth, had another disappointing round. After an 1-under-par 71 at Spyglass, he shot a 2-under-par 69 at Monterey. You might say 2-under-par isn’t too bad, but not after a 1-under-par round before that. Friday was one of Spieth’s worst putting performances of his career. As he said, “I just couldn’t get the ball in the hole.” His ball striking was beautiful, but the slower poa annua greens gave Spieth fits. He sits 8 shots back of the lead going into the weekend. It would be wrong to count him out, but he will need to shoot two straight mid-to-low 60’s at Pebble Beach to have any chance.

Justin Rose was making his first start of the year. His first round 6-under-par 66 at Spyglass put him in a great position. He probably could have shot better than a 68 at Monterey, but he will take 9-under total and only two back going into the weekend.

Jason Day was finally able to get a low round in 2016 as he carded a 5-under-par 66. After turning in 1-over-par, Day took advantage of the 3 par-5’s on the backside by playing those holes 4-under-par. He is now still very much in the tournament as he sits at 6-under-par, just 5 shots back. I want to see if Day can come back with another similar round at Pebble Beach to set himself up for Sunday.

Defending champion Brandt Snedeker and former champion Dustin Johnson sit well back at even-par through 36 holes. Bubba Watson is at 2-under-par, while Patrick Reed, who played with Phil Mickelson, is at 6-under-par after a very nice 65.

Next: The PLAYERS Championship: The Ultimate Fan Experience

Everybody will be waiting to see whether Phil Mickelson can win for the first time since 2013. Oh, and remember if you are going out to Pebble Beach on Saturday be sure to get there early so you can take home a Jordan Spieth bobblehead!

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