Scottie Scheffler acknowledged that he will need nothing short of a miracle in order to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am following two ‘pretty frustrating’ rounds
Scottie Scheffler carded a 6-under 66 at Pebble Beach Golf Links on Friday(Image: Getty Images)
Scottie Scheffler conceded that he faces an uphill battle at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am following two “pretty frustrating” days.
On Friday, Scheffler — who entered the first signature event of the 2026 PGA Tour campaign as the clear betting favorite to win — carded a 6-under 66 at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Despite turning in a far better performance from the opening round, during which he shot an even-par 72, the 29-year-old admitted that it still didn’t meet his standards.
“I mean, I felt like I played better again than my score today, which is pretty frustrating,” Scheffler told reporters. “But was able to get some stuff going on the back nine. So at least a respectable score today versus yesterday, wasn’t very respectable.”
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Scheffler did little to hide his anger while struggling to find his rhythm through the first nine holes. Following a short missed putt on the 13th hole, he promptly buried his face in his hands while shaking his head.
Then on the par-3 15th, Scheffler came inches away from sinking a hole-in-one but instead saw his ball spin off the front of the green. Upon missing a subsequent chip shot, he sarcastically gave an emphatic thumbs up several times.
Fortunately for Scheffler, success awaited him on the back nine at Spyglass Hill.
The world No. 1 rallied back into the mix with three birdies and an eagle en route to carding five consecutive holes under par.
“Yeah, got the number right on 3, which is really difficult to do that far downhill and into the ocean breeze,” he said. “Nice to see a putt go in there. Made another birdie on 4. Two good shots into 5, that’s a hard par-3.
“Good birdie on 6, and then yeah, nice chip-in on 7, which is always nice to steal one, especially on a day where I felt I was giving them away again. So it was nice to steal one there.”
Thanks to the strong rebound, Scheffler now finds himself tied for 34th entering the weekend. Though the four-time major champion has “inched” his way up the leaderboard, he recognized that it would likely take a miracle for him to emerge victorious on Sunday.
“I’d say ‘inched’ would be the operative word there,” he said. “We’ll see how it shakes out at the end of the day.
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“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.”
Scheffler, to his credit, opened the WM Phoenix Open earlier this month in 2-over 73 before staging an impressive comeback to claim a T-3 finish.
Entering this week, he made a whopping 17 consecutive top-10s on the PGA Tour — marking the longest such streak since Billy Casper in 1965.