Akshay Bhatia’s big birdie runs helps him beat wind to lead at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Pebble Beach started out showing a dark side Saturday with the wind causing golf balls to wobble on the green in the cool Pacific breeze. Akshay Bhatia got off to a hot start with six birdies in seven holes, taking him to a 4-under 68 and a two-shot lead at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

But the worst may still be yet to come.

With big wind and rain forecast the start time for the final round was moved up an hour, time for players to hang on to the seat of their rain pants.

Low scores were still available. Collin Morikawa, a two-time major champion, is trying to end a two-year winless drought,

He made 11 birdies in the 62nd round With this, he moved up 25 places on the leaderboard to join Jake Knapp (66) and Sepp Straka (67) in second place.

Bhatia started the third round with Ryo Hisatsune in the lead and threatening to turn it into a runaway. When the wind is not blowing – and the day is not starting – the trick to pebbles is to take advantage of the first seven holes. Bhatia followed that script beautifully with six birdies, only one of them outside 10 feet. He led by at least five shots.

He breezed through 47 holes of this signature event until his first bogey, when a strong wind sent his tee shot well over the green on the par-3 12th. He dropped another shot on the par-3 17th when the wind blew his shot into a bunker and he missed a 4-foot putt.

He went out in the 30s and came in at the 38s, exactly what Pebble Beach can do with the wind. Still, Bhatia was at 19-under 197.

Even without “Celebrity Saturday” from the old AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am days, there was no shortage of entertainment.

Knapp, the smooth-swinging Southern Californian, opened and finished with an eagle. He holed out from 130 yards on the par-4 first hole, and he used the wind to get to 12 feet for eagle on the par-5 18th.

Sam Burns also holed out for eagle to start his day, giving him the lead temporarily. He didn’t end up with eagle, but it was no less surprising – a shot from the greenside bunker off the video board behind the green, then a chip that rattled the pin and dropped for birdie.

Burns shot 72 and was five behind a group consisting of Tommy Fleetwood (67) and Maverick McNally (63).

Defending champion Rory McIlroy was 10 shots behind, and he can count the five holes that put him that far behind. He had a triple bogey (drive to the beach on No. 4) and a double bogey (drive to the right on No. 18) in a third round of 72. He had a pair of three-putt double bogeys from 5 feet on Thursday. And he had a leg that led to bogey on the par 5 on Friday.

Scotty Scheffler’s best hope was to extend his streak of top 10 finishes on the PGA Tour to 18. He had a bogey-free 67 that allowed him to regain a shot at the lead – he was still eight behind.

Sunday might have started in the last hour – two groups finishing two holes. Jacob Bridgman, who scored 68 and was three runs behind, played from the beach on the 18th. Min Woo Lee (70) was 75 yards across the fairway into the hedges when he finally decided to take a penalty drop on the cart path. And then his golf ball kept spinning on his putt. It took about 50 minutes to play a hole.

Hisatsune, who had a 74, had to replace his golf ball on the 18th green because it kept spinning. He missed his 6-foot par putt, and then waited more than 10 seconds as it looked like the wind might blow it into the cup.

No one expected a walk on the beach.

“It’s not going to be pretty all the time. Some weird things are going to happen to you and you just have to deal with that,” Knapp said. “I think whenever you get bad elements and things like that you have to do a good job of not letting it bother you.”

This is a big chance for Knapp to earn a spot at the Masters and the rest of the signature events of the year. And it’s a big day for Morikawa, whose once-reliable swing has disappeared over the past few years.

He had high expectations from the start of 2026 and then missed the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii. But he felt that he was on the right path and such times only boost confidence. He hit all 18 greens in regulation.

Morikawa said, “I’ve been really focused on trying to build this momentum, just building it myself and it finally paid off today.” “Of course we have some work tomorrow.”