PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Ludvig Aberg’s putter was hot from the get-go on Friday at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
The 24-year-old Swede sank a 42-foot birdie putt at the first and rolled in a 36-foot eagle putt from off the green at the second and hardly slowed down – he drained a 28-footer at the fourth – en route to carding a bogey-free 7-under 65 in the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“I don’t remember the last time I did that,” he said of draining two bombs to start a round. “So, obviously that’s a little bonus.”
Aberg improved to 11-under 133 and tied for the 36-hole lead with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (64) and first-round leader Thomas Detry, who shot 2-under 70 at Spyglass Hill Golf Course.
Pebble Pro-Am: Saturday tee times | Photos
Aberg, who had a four-putt from four feet a week ago at the Farmers Insurance Open and finished T-9, led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting on Friday, holing more than 120 feet of putts.
“I felt like over these last couple of weeks it’s been quite streaky,” he said of his putting. “It’s been a little bit a lot of good and a lot of bad. We just checked a little bit of alignment, a little bit of setup yesterday and try to keep it inside the frame.”
It paid quick dividends as he added a nine-foot uphill birdie at 11 and a tap-in two-putt birdie from long range at the par-5 14th. Aberg is making his debut in this event, but he played here twice in college for Texas Tech in the Carmel Cup.
“I never played well here actually,” he said with a smile. “I never did.”
Apparently, he’s a quick learner.
Here are four more things to know at the midway point of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Low round of the day for the world No. 1
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler says he likes bogey-free days. Who doesn’t? But as bogey-free days go, Pebble Beach isn’t a bad spot to have one. Scheffler posted 8-under 64, the low round of the day and low round of the week at Pebble to vault into a tie for the lead. It marks Scheffler’s 11th career 36-hole lead or co-lead on Tour, the most of any player since joining the Tour at the start of the 2019-20 season.
He made birdie on his first two and last two holes and sprinkled in four more circles on the card, none bigger than the 35-foot birdie putt he drained at 17. Scheffler hit 17 of 18 greens and gained over 2 ½ strokes on the greens. But he said not read too much into his putting performance as he pointed out that Pebble’s poa annua greens make for a tough week to judge one’s putting.
“I’m a process guy and I’m just sticking to my process,” he said.
Josh Allen finally beats Tom Brady
In the battle of NFL quarterbacks, Josh Allen finally got the better of Tom Brady.
Allen said he’d never beaten him in anything – winless against Brady at the helm of the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well as competing in golf in The Match and in the AT&T Pro-Am previously.
It took going low on Friday at Pebble Beach but Allen edged Brady in the 36-hole pro-am portion of the tournament.
Allen and his pro partner Keith Mitchell shot 11-under 61 to tie for sixth at 14-under, two strokes better than Brady and his pro partner Keegan Bradley, who shot a pair of 66s.
Tom Brady is…ONE OF US! pic.twitter.com/b8oJA2k33e
— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) February 3, 2024
“It feels pretty good,” Allen said, breaking into a wide smile as he acknowledged he also won a bet with Brady.
“Not monetary but some good pride and some other things. Felt good to beat him. Wish I would have had that happen on the football field, but we’ll take it where we can get it with him,” he said.
Asked about the wager, Allen said, “I can’t tell you that, I can’t tell you all my secrets. It’s something cool, it’s something you can put in your house.”
In a video posted by the PGA Tour, Allen can be heard saying to Brady, “You know what I want? Can I… What I want is a signed jersey.”
Allen said he contributed on about five holes, but failed to make a natural birdie on Friday.
“I had a few pars when I popped. I didn’t play up to my best, I don’t think, but I give myself some grace, haven’t played in about five or six months,” he said.
At 17-under, Rory McIlroy and Jeff Rhodes, a nine-handicap and co-chairman of TPG Capital, won the pro-am portion of the event by one stroke over Matt Fitzpatrick/George Still, Matthieu Pavon/Pascal Grizot and Patrick Cantlay/Egon Durban.
Dynamic duo. 👊 Rory McIlroy & Jeff Rhodes are the 2024 AT&T Pro-Am team champions! pic.twitter.com/0LHjRB5UQC
— AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (@attproam) February 3, 2024
Cantlay contends
Patrick Cantlay summed up what makes Pebble Beach special to him quite succinctly.
“It would be beautiful without the course and the course kind of puts it over the top,” he said.
On Friday, he followed up his 8-under 64 at Spy Glass with a 2-under 70 at Pebble Beach.
Cantlay made his first bogey of the tournament at the fifth hole, but thanks to three birdies in his first seven holes he’s one stroke back. He saved par after driving into the water at 18 to play the back nine in all pars.
Cantlay recalled first playing at Pebble with his dad when he was 12 or 13 and immediately fell in love with the place.
“Growing up in California, hard not to love Pebble Beach,” he said. “Rain or shine, it’s a great place to be.”
Cantlay, who grew up in Southern California, was asked where he’d rather win — Pebble or Riviera in Los Angeles?
“I don’t know if I like that question,” he said. “I’d like to get both of them.”
'Spinny greens' make spin control critical
Scottie Scheffler didn’t realize how much it rained overnight. “It was really wet,” he said. “So like on a lot of these back-to-front greens it’s a big adjustment going from hitting a pitching wedge to hitting an 8-iron to try to take off spin. It’s little stuff like that you have to adjust to on the course.”
Justin Thomas went one step further, saying, “I’ve never played greens this spinny before.”
When Patrick Cantlay was asked if he could remember the last time he played such soft greens that sent golf balls dancing the cha-cha once they landed, he said, “Yesterday at Spyglass.”
“This course is gettable as soft as it is. I think it will take a good score tomorrow to kind of keep my spot or move up.”
