Belgium’s Thomas Detry took a one-shot lead after the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM as Rory McIlroy suffered a dramatic late-round collapse.
McIlroy, playing his first PGA Tour round of the year after a win and a second place in Dubai, was leading after 14 holes as three successive birdies took him to six-under-par.
But the world number two dropped five strokes in his final four holes at Spyglass Hill – one of two courses being used by the 80-strong field – including a triple bogey at the par five seventh hole after he fell foul of a rule change which cost him a two-shot penalty.
Having dropped within a club length of an unplayable lie, he was informed before signing his card for a final 71 of a change in the rules that a player must drop on the direct line.
“I wasn’t aware that that rule was changed again in 2023, so I took a drop thinking of the 2019 rules when everything was sort of changed, said McIlroy, who trails Detry by eight strokes.
The Belgian started and finished with three birdies carding a career-high ten birdies and a career-low round 63 on TOUR. American Patrick Cantlay lies one shot behind.
Matthieu Pavon, who won last week’s Farmers Insurance Open, was a shot further back on 65 after the best round of the day at Pebble Beach.
Justin Rose birdied his three holes at Spyglass Hill in a four-under-par 68, one better than fellow Englishmen Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Nick Dunlap, playing his first round as a professional after winning The American Express tournament as an amateur last month, was tied for last place after a four-over-par 76.
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is the second Signature Event of the 2024 PGA TOUR Season and only Signature Event that has a set field size (due to the pro-am format). The event features no cut and is played on two courses (Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course), with the pro-am portion concluding on Friday.
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| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Detry(SH) | -9 | 63 |
| 2 | Patrick Cantlay(SH) | -8 | 64 |
| 3 | Matthieu Pavon(PB) | -7 | 65 |
| T4 | Emiliano Grillo(SH) | -6 | 66 |
| T4 | Si Woo Kim(PB) | -6 | 66 |
| T6 | Rickie Fowler(SH) | -5 | 67 |
| T6 | Collin Morikawa(PB) | -5 | 67 |
| T8 | Ludvig Åberg(SH) | -4 | 68 |
| T8 | Eric Cole(PB) | -4 | 68 |
| T8 | Denny McCarthy(PB) | -4 | 68 |
| T8 | Sam Burns(SH) | -4 | 68 |
| T8 | Justin Rose(SH) | -4 | 68 |
| T8 | Justin Thomas(SH) | -4 | 68 |
| T14 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout(PB) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Taylor Montgomery(PB) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Tommy Fleetwood(SH) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Kurt Kitayama(PB) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Scottie Scheffler(SH) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Max Homa(PB) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Sepp Straka(SH) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Viktor Hovland(SH) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Mark Hubbard(PB) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Erik van Rooyen(PB) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Matt Fitzpatrick(PB) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Matt Kuchar(PB) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Jason Day(SH) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Peter Malnati(PB) | -3 | 69 |
| T14 | Beau Hossler(SH) | -3 | 69 |
| T29 | Brendon Todd(PB) | -2 | 70 |
| T29 | Lee Hodges(SH) | -2 | 70 |
| T29 | Sahith Theegala(SH) | -2 | 70 |
| T29 | S.H. Kim(PB) | -2 | 70 |
| T29 | Adam Svensson(PB) | -2 | 70 |
| T29 | Cam Davis(SH) | -2 | 70 |
| T29 | J.T. Poston(SH) | -2 | 70 |
| T29 | Corey Conners(SH) | -2 | 70 |
| T29 | Taylor Moore(SH) | -2 | 70 |
| T29 | Keegan Bradley(SH) | -2 | 70 |
| T39 | Rory McIlroy(SH) | -1 | 71 |
| T39 | Cameron Young(SH) | -1 | 71 |
| T39 | Sam Ryder(PB) | -1 | 71 |
| T39 | Chris Kirk(SH) | -1 | 71 |
| T39 | Tom Kim(PB) | -1 | 71 |
| T39 | Nick Taylor(PB) | -1 | 71 |
| T39 | Davis Riley(SH) | -1 | 71 |
| T39 | Nick Hardy(PB) | -1 | 71 |
| T39 | Tom Hoge(SH) | -1 | 71 |
| T39 | Alex Noren(PB) | -1 | 71 |
| T39 | Byeong Hun An(SH) | -1 | 71 |
| T50 | Andrew Putnam(SH) | Par | 72 |
| T50 | Russell Henley(PB) | Par | 72 |
| T50 | Sungjae Im(PB) | Par | 72 |
| T50 | Brian Harman(SH) | Par | 72 |
| T50 | Maverick McNealy(PB) | Par | 72 |
| T50 | Luke List(PB) | Par | 72 |
| T50 | Kevin Yu(SH) | Par | 72 |
| T50 | Adam Scott(SH) | Par | 72 |
| T50 | Seamus Power(PB) | Par | 72 |
| T50 | Tony Finau(PB) | Par | 72 |
| T50 | Jordan Spieth(SH) | Par | 72 |
| T50 | Wyndham Clark(SH) | Par | 72 |
| T62 | Grayson Murray(SH) | +1 | 73 |
| T62 | Adam Hadwin(PB) | +1 | 73 |
| T62 | Webb Simpson(PB) | +1 | 73 |
| T62 | Alex Smalley(PB) | +1 | 73 |
| T62 | Stephan Jaeger(SH) | +1 | 73 |
| T62 | Lucas Glover(PB) | +1 | 73 |
| T62 | Xander Schauffele(PB) | +1 | 73 |
| T62 | Brandon Wu(PB) | +1 | 73 |
| T62 | J.J. Spaun(PB) | +1 | 73 |
| T71 | Ben Griffin(PB) | +2 | 74 |
| T71 | Adam Schenk(SH) | +2 | 74 |
| T71 | Keith Mitchell(SH) | +2 | 74 |
| T71 | Nicolai Højgaard(SH) | +2 | 74 |
| T75 | Hideki Matsuyama(SH) | +3 | 75 |
| T75 | Harris English(PB) | +3 | 75 |
| T77 | Hayden Buckley(PB) | +4 | 76 |
| T77 | Mackenzie Hughes(SH) | +4 | 76 |
| T77 | Patrick Rodgers(PB) | +4 | 76 |
| T77 | Nick Dunlap(PB) | +4 | 76 |
