Bhatia was bogey-free for two days at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, both dry days with mild breezes and soft greens allowing good scores on both courses. He had six birdies and chipped from 15 yards for eagle on the 14th hole on his way to a 64.
Hisatsune, who opened with a 62 at Pebble Beach, stumbled halfway through his round with consecutive bogeys, which he compensated with enough birdies (and one eagle) before and after for a 67.
They were at 15-under 129, the lowest 36-hole mark since the tournament moved to a two-course rotation as its signature event in 2024.
Rickie Fowler (64) and Sam Burns (67), both on Spyglass Hill, were one shot behind. Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth and defending champion Rory McIlroy were lurking. Scottie Scheffler finally got it done, playing his last seven holes at 5 under for a 66, although the No. 1 player in the world was still nine shots behind entering the weekend.
“I would say ‘inched’ would be the key word there,” Scheffler said of his progress. “We’ll see how it plays out at the end of the day. I mean, it’ll be two pretty special rounds, really three special rounds, but you’ll never get out of it. We’ll see what happens with the weather.”
The big speculation Friday wasn’t so much the weather, but whether Swift would show up to watch her fiancé, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, play at Pebble Beach.
There was a large crowd. There was a big buzz. There was no Swift, who was reportedly in town, but not on the golf course. She still drove a spike in ticket sales: $60,000 worth when Kelce was announced as part of the amateur field, $21,000 in the twelve hours before playing Pebble.
“It was busy without her,” said Mackenzie Hughes, who played in the group. “With her, I think it would have literally been pandemonium.”
The only pandemonium was keeping track of who went low and where. The best weather was Thursday and it’s no surprise that the leading four played at Pebble Beach that day.
“I thought yesterday was a good day to be here,” Spieth said after nailing a 68 at Pebble Beach. “It was quite a challenge here today towards the end, but the greens are so receptive and they’re not super fast here at the moment.
“Pebble will show more teeth in the next day or two.”
There is no 36-hole cut at this signature event, except for Kelce, Pau Gasol, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the rest of the amateurs.
Bhatia, who finished in third place at the Phoenix Open last week, has now gone 44 holes without a bogey over his last three rounds.
“Bogey-free around these courses is great,” said Bhatia. “Greens can get bumpy, you can get really tough putts with the amount of slope on the greens. So I’ve been really steady within five to six feet. … It’s just fun when you feel like you’re in a groove.”
McIlroy has been trying to get there in his first American start this year. He had a pair of three-putt double bogeys from the four-foot mark that slowed him at Spyglass Hill. He started well and was trending early on the back nine at Pebble Beach until he chipped into a bunker from a tricky spot right of the green on the par-5 14th, leading to a bogey.
“I feel like I’ve been a bit wasteful the last two days and maybe not taken advantage of those great starts,” said McIlroy, who was six shots behind.
Scheffler felt like he didn’t score very well on Thursday, and he got more of the same at Spyglass Hill until a series of good shots, good putts and a chip-in for Eagle on the par-5 seventh hole. He was nine shots behind, with a new challenge attempting to extend his streak of 17 consecutive finishes in the top 10. He was tied for 33rd place.
They all head to Pebble Beach for the final two rounds, and Hisatsune thinks he might not see the same course where he shot 62 on Thursday.
“Hopefully no wind,” Hisatsune said.
One thing was for sure: the wind had a better chance of showing up than Taylor Swift.
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