Kurt Kitayama carded a 70 to take a one-shot lead at Pebble Beach in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“Today was really tough. Started to really pick up on the back nine. But overall I’m really happy with where I’m at and how I played today.
“I grew up in northern California. So I got to play Spyglass quite a bit. Not so much here and Monterey. But I’ve seen it before and definitely feeling a lot more comfortable this time around. It’s always nice playing here. It’s nice being here.
“I think the weather – I’m not sure what the weather’s going to be, but I know [Spyglass is] playing a lot tougher there than the other two courses. So I think just kind of staying patient all around and get my birdies where I can,” he said on his plan for the third round.
Kitayama started his round with ten straight pars before a first birdie at the second hole, followed by a bogey and two more birdies to reach 9-under.
Perfect read 👏@Kurt_Kitayama grabs a share of the lead with one to play @ATTProAm. pic.twitter.com/r2leqteCXS
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 3, 2023
Tied behind him in second place are fellow Americans Keith Mitchell (68, MP), Brandon Wu (66, MP), Joseph Bramlett (67, MP) and overnight leader Hank Lebioda (72, PB).
Mitchell is the only player in the top-5 with a prior victory on the PGA TOUR (2019 Honda Classic).
England’s Justin Rose shot a hole-in-one at the par-3 15th at Spyglass using a pitching wedge, marking his third career ace on Tour and his first since the 2007 FedEx St. Jude Championship. He currently lies in T11 at 6-under.
Kevin Tway holed out for albatross on the par-5 11th hole at Spyglass using an 8-iron. It was his first career albatross on Tour and the second albatross this season following Xander Schauffele at The American Express. Tway is T76 at even par.
Ben Silverman and Aaron Rodgers lead the pro-am portion of the competition by five strokes at 21-under.