Pebble Beach takes a Sleeping Pill and the Pros take Advantage

The storied course shows up defenseless for the opening round of the U.S. Open, allowing competitors to take Pebble Beach apart in historic fashion.

If the wind doesn’t start blowing soon, the USGA will have to string up some barbed wire at Pebble Beach to give the course a means of defense.

On Thursday, the world’s best 156 players showed Pebble who’s boss. The average score was 72.68, barely one and one-half strokes above par on a course that played as tranquil as a sleeping pet Labrador.

That was not only the lowest average score to par in any U.S. Open first round played at Pebble Beach, it was the lowest in any of the 20 U.S. Open rounds played here. It was also nearly three strokes easier than the 75.63 scoring average since Pebble became an Open venue in 1972.

Here are the five lowest scoring rounds for any Open contested at Pebble Beach:

Year Round Average

2019 Rd. 1 72.68
1982 Rd. 3 73.00
2000 Rd. 4 73.22
1992 Rd. 3 73.82
1982 Rd. 4 73.92

You will immediately notice that all the other relatively low-scoring rounds at Pebble were third or fourth rounds. In other words, those average reflect a field already culled of its weakest performers. Aside from Thursday, the “easiest” first or second round in a Pebble Beach U.S. Open occurred in 1992, when the field shot 74.54…nearly two strokes worse than Thursday.

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Historically, the first/second round scoring average for a Pebble Beach U.S. Open is 75.93. It was, anyway, until Thursday, which shaved a full three-tenths of a stroke off that average.

Thirty-nine players broke par or better Thursday. That’s 10 more than had ever previously broken par during any Open round played at Pebble Beach. In 2010, the last time the Open came to Pebble, it took the entire tournament before 39 players managed to break par.

In that 2010 first round, 15 players failed to break 80; on Thursday, only eight failed to do so.

On Thursday, the U.S. Open something akin to what the USGA least wants it to be…it became the ATT National Pro-Am. This past February, when the pros gathered at Pebble and two other area courses for the annual event once known as the Crosby, the scoring average was 71.5, about one stroke lower than Thursday. The final round average – the only round played entirely at Pebble – was 71.11.

Of the 165 entrants, 108 shot between 68 and 74 Thursday. That’s 43 more than did so in 2010.

What was missing Thursday, obviously, was weather, Pebble’s version of Harry Potter’s sorting hat. Much to the organization’s disappointment, there are things the USGA does not control, and weather is one of them. (Although rumor has it the USGA is working on correcting that flaw.)

For those who need carnage to make it a true U.S. Open, there is always precedent. In 1992, the field basically chewed up Pebble Beach on Thursday and Friday. Twenty-nine players broke the par of 72 both days, the leader at that point being Gil Morgan at 135.

Then the winds picked up and order, by which we mean chaos, was restored. On Saturday, only 14 players broke par; on Sunday, only four did so. Morgan went from 66-69 and a three-stroke lead to 77-81 and a tie for 14th, eight strokes behind Tom Kite.

U.S. Open: The Good, Bad, and Ugly from Day One at Pebble Beach. dark. Next

Obviously that could yet happen again. But without some divine intervention – or an innovative alternative such as barbed wire – we may be seeing the second coming of the ATT National this week.

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