AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Round 2: Akshay Bhatia Stays Bogey-Free to Share the Lead With Ryo Hisatsune

Akshay Bhatia has now played 36 holes on two of the most famous golf courses in America without making a single bogey. That is how you end up with a share of the lead on a day when everyone else was going low too.

Bhatia shot a bogey-free 8-under 64 at Spyglass Hill on Friday to join Ryo Hisatsune at 15-under 129 atop the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Rickie Fowler (64) and Sam Burns (67) are one shot back at 14 under, and Min Woo Lee (65 at Pebble Beach) is three behind at 12 under. Per the PGA TOUR and the AP, 129 is the lowest 36-hole total since this event went to its current two-course Signature Event format in 2024.

Bhatia's Clean Sheet

Bhatia opened the day at 7 under after a Thursday 65 at Pebble and spent Friday turning Spyglass, the tougher half of the rotation, into a birdie walk. Birdies at the 10th and 11th set the tone. The moment came at the par-5 14th, where Bhatia chipped in from roughly 50 feet out of the greenside rough for eagle. Four more birdies followed the rest of the way.

The bogey-free part is not a one-week trick either. Per the AP, Bhatia came into the week off a tie for third at the WM Phoenix Open and has now gone 44 straight holes without a bogey over the last three rounds played. This week is also the 100th PGA TOUR start for the 24-year-old, a two-time TOUR winner who, as the PGA TOUR's Signature Scroll pointed out, rarely gets mentioned in the conversation about the game's best young players.

"Bogey-free around these golf courses is great," Bhatia said.

Hisatsune Bends, Does Not Break

Thursday's 62 at Pebble set an impossible bar, and Hisatsune predictably came back toward the field at Spyglass. Starting on the back nine, Hisatsune made the first two bogeys of the week back to back at the 18th and the first, a stretch Hisatsune later called a missed decision, per Field Level Media.

What kept the lead intact was the response. A 10-foot eagle putt at the 16th hole of the round steadied things, and a 67 at the harder course is a perfectly respectable way to protect a big opening number. Asked what the weekend at Pebble needs to look like, Hisatsune kept it short: "Hopefully, no wind."

Fowler Finds the Old Gear

The loudest move of the day belonged to Fowler. The 64 at Spyglass included nine birdies against one bogey and vaulted Fowler into a tie for third, one off the lead. Fowler is chasing a first win in more than two and a half years and told reporters, per Field Level Media, that both body and shoulder feel much better than they did a year ago.

Burns stayed in the fight with a 67 at Spyglass after Thursday's 63, and Lee's 65 at Pebble moved the Australian into a tie for fifth. The low round of the day came from Harris English, whose 63 at Pebble Beach was a 10-shot improvement on an over-par Thursday at Spyglass.

Scheffler Inches, McIlroy Wastes

Scottie Scheffler finally got something going late. After Thursday's even-par 72, the world No. 1 played the last seven holes at Spyglass in 5 under to post a 66, and a 66-foot eagle holed from the fairway made the highlight reel. It still left Scheffler nine shots back and outside the top 30, with a streak of 17 straight top-10 finishes on the line. Per the PGA TOUR, that run matches Billy Casper's 17 from 1964 to 1965 and is the longest in 61 years.

"I'd say 'inched' would be the operative word there," Scheffler said of the progress.

Rory McIlroy had the opposite problem. The defending champion nearly aced the short seventh at Pebble, hitting a tee shot from 112 yards to 2 feet, and kept giving it back elsewhere, including a bogey at the par-5 14th after a poor chip. McIlroy shot 67 and sits six back at 9 under. "I feel like I've been a little bit wasteful the last two days," McIlroy said.

Collin Morikawa birdied 17 and 18 at Pebble to finish off a 68, reaching 7 under, eight shots behind the leaders. Jordan Spieth shot 68 at Pebble, capped by a 22-foot birdie putt at the last.

Kelce Out, Wind In

Friday also closed the amateur portion of the week. With no 36-hole cut for the pros at this Signature Event, the only people sent home were the amateurs, a group that included Travis Kelce, Pau Gasol and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The weekend belongs to the pros, and it shifts entirely to Pebble Beach.

That matters because the conditions are expected to change. Both opening days were dry with a mild breeze and soft greens, and the 36-hole scoring averages at Pebble (68.7) and Spyglass (69.6) were the lowest in tournament history, per the PGA TOUR. Spieth warned that "Pebble's going to show more of its teeth" over the weekend, with the wind expected to flip into players' faces on the front nine.

Saturday's Question

The two co-leaders arrive at the weekend from opposite directions: Bhatia with zero bogeys and a hot streak carried over from Phoenix, Hisatsune with a 62 in the bank and a slightly shakier Friday. Fowler and Burns lurk one back. If Pebble does show its teeth on Saturday, a clean card might be worth more than a hot one.

Catch up on Thursday in our Round 1 recap. Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 2 recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 2 recap, Signature Scroll and leaderboard), AP, Field Level Media, Golf Channel, ESPN. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.