The 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the first signature event of the PGA Tour season, is delivering all the drama and star power that golf fans crave. With a field stacked with 18 of the top 20 players in the Official World Golf Ranking and a staggering $20 million purse, the action on California’s storied Pebble Beach Golf Links has been nothing short of electric as the tournament heads into the crucial weekend rounds.
After two rounds, it’s a tight race at the top. Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune and American Akshay Bhatia are knotted at 15 under par, setting the pace for a leaderboard crowded with big names and hungry challengers. Both players have shown nerves of steel and a knack for going low, but with a host of seasoned pros lurking just behind, the battle for the $3.6 million winner’s payout is wide open as Round 3 gets underway.
Akshay Bhatia, making his 100th PGA Tour start, has been the talk of the tournament so far. The 22-year-old, fresh off a T-3 finish at the WM Phoenix Open, scorched Spyglass Hill for an eight-under 64 on Friday, vaulting into a share of the lead. Remarkably, Bhatia has played bogey-free golf through the first two rounds. "Some days are easier than others but I have such a good feel with just trying to get the golf ball in play now," Bhatia told reporters after his round. "I don’t care necessarily like how my golf swing looks aesthetically. I would love it to look perfect, but I’m just trying to be myself and play a bunch of shots and that’s how I play good golf."
Ryo Hisatsune, meanwhile, has matched Bhatia shot for shot, displaying a calm, composed presence that belies his 23 years. Hisatsune’s consistency has kept him at the top of the board, and his partnership with Edward Herlihy in the pro-am portion also yielded a strong finish. Both young guns are seeking a breakthrough signature win, but the weekend will test their mettle against the game’s elite.
Just one shot behind the leaders sit Rickie Fowler and Sam Burns at 14 under. Fowler, still seeking his first victory since the 2023 Rocket Classic, has shown flashes of his best form after battling through a tough, injury-plagued 2025. He told the media, "I would say a little bit of everything. I wouldn’t say there’s a specific part of the game that has either held me back or pushed me forward. Everything’s been fairly solid." Burns, who finished tenth at Pebble Beach in 2024, has quietly put together another strong showing, and both are poised to pounce should the leaders falter.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy, making his season debut on U.S. soil, finds himself six strokes back at nine under par after a rollercoaster second-round 67. The Northern Irishman mixed five birdies, two bogeys, and an eagle for a round that showed both promise and frustration. "I got off to a really good start again and then stalled on the back nine again," McIlroy admitted. "So I feel like I’ve been a little bit wasteful the last two days and maybe not capitalized on those great starts. It’s very low scoring, it’s soft. Hopefully if I can get off to a good start again tomorrow and pick up a few shots early I’ll be right in the mix. Yeah, game feels pretty good actually, feels a little bit better than it did in Dubai a couple weeks ago. Just trying to keep building on that."
World number one Scottie Scheffler, who started the week with a pedestrian even-par 72, rebounded in style with a six-under 66 on Friday. Scheffler’s round included three birdies and an eagle on the back nine, though he showed flashes of frustration along the way. After narrowly missing an ace at the par-three 15th and having his chip just miss the cup, Scheffler responded with a sarcastic thumbs up. "I’d say ‘inched’ would be the operative word there," Scheffler said. "We’ll see how it shakes out at the end of the day. I mean, it’s going to take two pretty special rounds, really three special rounds, but you’re never out of it. We’ll see what happens with the weather. I’ll go practice a little bit and then rest up and get ready for tomorrow."
Other notable names in the hunt include Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth, and Tommy Fleetwood, all sitting within striking distance. Fleetwood, the reigning Tour Championship winner, is making his 2026 season debut with high expectations after his breakthrough at East Lake last August. Chris Gotterup, already a two-time winner this year, sits six shots back, while the likes of Sepp Straka, Min Woo Lee, and Jacob Bridgeman round out a leaderboard brimming with talent.
Weather could play a decisive role as the weekend unfolds. Saturday is forecasted to be cool and mostly cloudy, with fog giving way to overcast skies and a 15% chance of rain. Winds are expected to blow out of the south-southwest at 10 mph, conditions that could make scoring tricky and add another layer of intrigue to an already unpredictable tournament.
While the professionals continue their pursuit of glory, the pro-am portion of the event wrapped up with Keegan Bradley and Mary Meeker claiming a wire-to-wire win at 20 under par. The duo fired a blistering 13-under 59 in Round 1 and followed it up with a 7-under 65, holding off the hard-charging pair of Akshay Bhatia and Yahoo CEO Guru Gowrappan, who finished second at 19 under. Bradley, a two-time PGA Tour champion and recent U.S. Ryder Cup captain, is also T-8 heading into the weekend’s main event, showing that his game is in fine fettle. Meeker, a member of the Tour’s policy board, played a key role in their dominant performance.
As the third round tees off, all eyes will be on the featured groups, with marquee pairings like Bhatia, Hisatsune, and Fowler in the spotlight. Tee times began at 11:22 a.m. Eastern, with TV coverage stretching from 1 to 7 p.m. on Golf Channel and CBS. Fans can also catch featured group and hole streaming on the ESPN app with a subscription.
This year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am has already provided its share of highlights and surprises, but with two rounds to play and so many elite players within reach, anything can happen on the famed Monterey Peninsula. Will the young leaders hold their nerve, or will a battle-tested veteran surge to the top? As the sun sets on another dramatic day, the only certainty is that the chase for Pebble Beach glory is far from over.