Low Scores Galore at Pebble Beach

The scores in the opening round of the 2012 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro Am were about as low as they can go. The tournament is notorious for experiencing unpredictable weather, but that wasn't the case Thursday as the scores plummeted as the temperature rose and the wind stayed calm on California's balmy Monterey Peninsula.

Leading the way with 9-under-par scores were Danny Lee and Dustin Johnson, who both carded 63s at par-72 Pebble Beach, and South Korea's Charlie Wi, who posted a 61 on the par-70 South Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. (The other course in the rotation is Spyglass Hill.)

Lee, who was born in South Korea and raised in New Zealand, had five birdies and two eagles. Starting on the 10th hole, Lee fired eagles on the par-5 second (his 11th hole) and par-4 11th (his second). Lee, who won the U.S. Amateur as an 18-year-old in 2008, shot 5-under 31 on his front nine and 32 on the back.

"I actually had some good breaks, and I made two eagles today. I holed out from a hundred yards away," said the 21-year-old Lee. "One, I think it was the second on the par‑5, I was in the left bunker, and in a very tough place to get up and down from there. I actually had to pick up slack to stop the ball, and it picked up slack and went in. So after that I think I got good momentum going, and I played it really nicely."

Johnson, who won the tournament in 2009 and again the next year, also had two eagles - on the par-4 third and par-5 sixth holes - along with six birdies and a bogey.

Wi's round at Monterey Peninsula CC was simply remarkable. His scorecard showed no number higher than a solitary 5 and listed seven birdies and an eagle on the par-5 sixth. The 40-year-old shot a 6-under 28 on the front nine and a 3-under 33 on the back.

Right behind at 8-under are Ken Duke and Brian Harman, who both logged 64s at Pebble Beach. After an even-par 36 on the front side, Duke got downright torrid on the inward half, carding six birdies and an eagle two on the par-4 16th when his shot from the fairway rolled into the cup. Duke's 8-under 28 established a new back-nine record at Pebble Beach.

Duke attributed his fine play to the unseasonably nice weather. "I know this is the first time I've been here in the five times that I've been here that the weather was like this. When the weather's like this, you really have to take advantage of the golf course and the conditions," the 43-year-old said.

"But I just kind of hit it close the whole back nine, and dunked the one on 16, which, when it's going good like that, things like that happen. When it's going bad, it's not. That's the way it is."

Sharing sixth at 6-under are Josh Teater (a 64 at Monterey Peninsula), Canadian Graham DeLaet (66 at Pebble Beach), and Nick Watney and Kevin Na, who posted the low rounds at Spanish Hill, a 66.

Watney has a clean bill of health after pulling out of last week's Phoenix Open due to illness. "Definitely feel better," said the Sacramento native, who had six birdies, an eagle and two bogeys in his round. "It gave me some time to go home and practice, too, once I started coming out of it. I'm not surprised, but I'm definitely pleased."

Defending champion D.A. Points got off to a rather slow start considering the ideal scoring conditions Thursday. The Illinois native posted an even-par 72 at Spyglass Hill. He and partner, actor-comedian Bill Murray, have a ways to go to win a second straight AT&T pro-am title as they ended the day at 2-under 70.

"Well, the defending champions did not play very well," Points told reporters. "Neither one of us did. I didn't play awful, but the conditions were so perfect, and I just didn't take advantage of the great day. Even-par at Spyglass isn't always that terrible, but today the conditions were pretty pure.

"And Bill struggled. I think his knee's hurting a little bit, and he's developed a couple bad habits because of that. But we've got three more days to have a lot of fun."

Tiger Woods is making his 2012 PGA Tour debut this week. Starting on the 10th hole at Spyglass, Woods had three birdies and a bogey on his front nine and a similar configuration of scores on his inward half. Woods and amateur partner, Dallas Cowboys' quarterback Tony Romo, are at 7-under par through 18 holes.

Sharing the pro-am lead at 13-under are three-time major champion Padraig Harrington and partner, Irish businessman J.P. McManus, and Lee and his partner. The Irishmen shot a net 57 at Monterey Peninsula.

Spencer Levin, who forfeited a six-shot lead heading into the final round to lose the Phoenix Open, opened with a 69 at Monterey Peninsula. The winner of that event, Kyle Stanley, is taking the week off.

For all the scores, visit http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r005/.

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