The stars have come out at the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and heading into the final round on the Monterey Peninsula, it is perhaps the biggest in the field who is just out sharing the lead. Rory McIlroy was simply brilliant Saturday in the cold and blustery conditions as he navigated Pebble Beach Golf Links in bogey-free fashion en route to a 7-under 65 to sit one stroke behind 54-hole leader Sepp Straka at 16 under.
McIlroy heads into Sunday’s deciding round at the PGA Tour’s second signature event alongside good friend Shane Lowry at 15 under. The Ryder Cup teammates will serve as the final threesome headlining an impressive contending contingent atop the leaderboard, which also includes Justin Rose, Cam Davis and Tom Kim. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is not far behind at 10 under.
“It’s up there. … It was a really good poor weather performance,” McIlroy said of his third round. “I think if there’s a wind that you want to play Pebble Beach in, this is sort of it. So it was — as long as you managed it and sort of really controlled the flight of your golf ball, which I did well today — I still felt with how receptive the greens were, I still felt there was a score out there.”
After slogging through the back nine at Pebble Beach late on Friday, McIlroy found a spark on the last hole with an unlikely eagle conversion. Carrying that momentum into Moving Day, the world No. 3 shot out the gate and took advantage of the first two holes at Pebble Beach.
With conditions worsening, McIlroy chipped his way around the coast adding a circle on the treacherous par-3 5th and another on the diabolical par-4 8th down the cliff. Leaning on his driver and an aggressive approach with wedges in hand, the 26-time PGA Tour winner kicked in his first birdie of the back nine on No. 15 following a string of pars.
It only took him one more hole to add another as he connected from 28 feet up the hill reading the right-to-left birdie bid to perfection. Another prodigious bomb came on the par-5 finisher setting up an easy two-putt birdie to put the finishing touches on a classy 65 putting McIlroy in an all-too-familiar position.
Seeking to capture his 27th PGA Tour victory and start his season with a win for the third time in the last four years, the 35-year-old looks as complete a player as ever. He will need to be for one more round, as despite his advantage in the experience category, McIlroy faces a one-stroke disadvantage on the leaderboard and a healthy crop of challengers with eyes on entering the winner’s circle at one of golf’s most iconic courses.
“I think really good venues are a big part of the storyline,” McIlroy said. “When we go to major championships, especially a U.S. Open and an Open Championship, I always feel like the golf course is a big part of the storyline heading into Thursday. Sometimes on the PGA Tour, that isn’t the case because whether you play a run-of-the-mill TPC or whatever it is, it just isn’t that interesting.
“So to come back to Pebble Beach time and again and play, and Spyglass, I think Spyglass is a really, really good golf course. To play these two golf courses, it’s definitely two of the best that we play all year. Yeah, I think it’s — you know, if everything’s on the table for whatever this new look PGA Tour’s going to be, I think venues are going to be a big part of it.”
The leader
1. Sepp Straka (-16): Straka has a chance to become the first player to take down the Bob Hope Classic and the Crosby Clambake in back-to-back starts. While he was able to convert his 54-hole lead in Palm Springs into a victory, the big Austrian will be up against at Pebble Beach with three of his Ryder Cup teammates breathing down his neck.
The way he handled adversity on Saturday was impressive. Cruising through the front nine despite the conditions, Straka struck out on Nos. 10-12 and carded three straight bogeys to fall off the pace. A one-hour stretch that could have ended his tournament chances, he hunkered down and came out the other end with the lead in his possession. Straka ended his round with four birdies in his final five holes to hold the lead heading into the final round for the second straight tournament.
Other contenders
T2. Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry (-15)
T4. Justin Rose, Tom Kim, Cam Davis (-14)
7. Lucas Glover (-13)
8. Russell Henley (-12)
9. Austin Eckroat (-11)
T10. Scottie Scheffler, Rasmus Højgaard, Lee Hodges, Sam Stevens, Taylor Pendrith (-10)
The parallels between Lowry and McIlroy’s tournaments are a bit bizarre at this point. Not only have they both made holes-in-one, they have carded the same scores on Thursday, Friday and now Saturday. Their 65s were the lowest scores of the afternoon by two strokes and came in similar fashions as they holed a couple nice putts and hit the ball beautifully.
The two were alongside each other the last time Lowry made a trip to the winner’s circle at the Zurich Classic, and they’ll be alongside each other in the final round on Sunday.
“I think it’s important that we go out there and do our jobs [Sunday] and try and enjoy it as best we can,” Lowry said. “We’re not going out there to have a great time and just, you know, play a round. We’re going out there, we both have a job to do [Sunday]. I’m sure at times we’ll have good fun, but when it gets down to the business end of things, I’m sure we’ll all be all business.”
Don’t forget about the world No. 1
He’s kind of just been hanging around all week and heading into the final round, but Scheffler sits only five strokes off the pace. Defending champion Wyndham Clark overcame a six-stroke deficit at this tournament last season thanks to a course-record setting performance. The world No. 1 may need something similar given the names ahead of him.
Although five strokes back, Scheffler has showed that he is not far from being caught up to speed. Even in his first start since the Hero World Challenge, he has scored well, avoided most mistakes and flashed that world-class iron play we have gotten familiar with the last few years.
“I think I hung in there well,” Scheffler said. “I took advantage of a few opportunities. I hit a lot of good putts out there that I felt like were going right around the edge. It was challenging. There was a lot of adjusting on the fly out there. The green speeds changed a lot as the day went on, the wind was crazy, it was raining on and off, so there were a lot of adjustments you had to make. I think a good finish definitely helps my chances going into [Sunday].”
WATCH: Justin Thomas drains two hole-out eagles in four-hole span at 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Patrick McDonald
2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am updated odds, picks
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
- Rory McIlroy: 5/2
- Sepp Straka: 3-1
- Shane Lowry: 9/2
- Tom Kim: 8-1
- Cam Davis: 12-1
- Justin Rose: 12-1
- Lucas Glover: 28-1
- Scottie Scheffler: 35-1
- Russell Henley: 35-1
The Irishmen are going to be popular picks tonight, but don’t sleep on the Bulldogs. Straka stood tall in Round 3, and he just closed the deal two weeks ago with his third career victory at The American Express. As for a dart throw, Henley has the game to get off to a fast start and jump back into contention from four strokes back.
Read the full article here
