PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) – Jordan Spieth knew the pin position on the ninth hole at Spyglass Hill as much by memory as by sight, which was a good thing considering the fog creeping across the Monterey Peninsula on Friday.
The crowd behind the green couldn’t see Spieth, only a golf ball that landed behind the flag and spun back 3 feet below the cup. Spieth tapped that in for his eighth birdie of the round and a 7-under 65 that put him atop the leaderboard in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Spieth was at 10-under 133.
Derek Fathauer was 8 under for his round at Pebble Beach and tied with Spieth at 10 under. Fathauer had to return Saturday morning to finish his round on the ninth hole. The bigger threat might be Jason Day, the world’s No. 1 player, who was 7 under through 12 holes at Spyglass when play was stopped. Day was at 9 under.
Patrick Reed, who withdrew two weeks ago from the European Tour event in Australia next week because of a respiratory infection, was at 7 under and had one hole to play at Monterey Peninsula.
Spieth mainly was thrilled that he finished just before the horn sounded to suspend play again, this time for fog.
“I didn’t feel any nerves out there, even though I knew I was toward the lead, just because so much could happen with three courses,” he said.