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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif -- Bad weather struck the Monterey Peninsula on Thursday midway through the opening round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, turning some putting greens into small lakes and forcing officials to suspend play. Rich Lamb, Seung-Yul Noh and Joel Dahman were among a few golfers to finish before the rainstorm arrived, each shooting a 4-under-par 68 at Spyglass Hill, one of the three courses used the first three days -- along with Monterey Peninsula, and Pebble Beach.
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Australian Jason Day, who is No. 1 in the world rankings, shot a 2-under 69 at Monterey. Low finisher at Pebble Beach was Shane Lowry of Ireland at 2-under 70.
Jim Furyk, captain of the U.S. team in 2018 Ryder Cup, was 2 under at the par-72 Spyglass, where many holes are cut through the Del Monte Forest and are more protected from the weather than the other two venues.
Golfers will restart their suspended rounds at 7:30 a.m. PST Friday before moving into the second round. The tournament is scheduled to end Monday.
Phil Mickelson, with seven birdies, two double bogeys and two bogeys, was 1 under through 17 holes at Monterey Peninsula, where many of the celebrity amateurs, including actor Bill Murray and tennis star Andy Roddick were playing. U.S. Open champion and two-time AT&T winner Dustin Johnson was at 1 under after 16 holes at Monterey.
"It was tough," Day said of the conditions. "The wind was pretty stiff. Then, obviously, the rain."
Thursday began innocently enough, with just wind. Then the rain arrived.
Organizers, aware of the forecast, started play Thursday an hour earlier than originally scheduled, at 7 a.m. rather than 8 a.m., and the plan was in part successful.
"Going an hour earlier," Day said, "was nice for us. I think we probably only had four holes in the rain. But the hardest part was to commit to a shot.
"I think the wind's going to die down. So to be able to get out there and shoot 2 under par is nice."
The ninth green at Pebble Beach is practically on the edge of a cliff. The hole, a 466-yard par-4, is brutal even without bad weather. Not until Pat Perez, who was in the seventh group off the tee, did anyone, pro or amateur, hit the green in two.
Mark Hubbard, who shot 69 at Pebble, said the ninth, his last hole after he began on the back nine, "played more like a par-5 than any of the par-5s today. So that just shows how tough it was playing."
Lam, hearing the stories, sighed.
"I'm glad I wasn't out at Pebble, if that was the case there," said Lamb, who was at Spyglass.
A 26-year-old graduate of Tennessee, Lamb last fall qualified for the PGA Tour off the Web.Com Tour.
"I had to wake up at 4:15 today," said Lamb, whose tee time was switched. "We were off at 7 a.m. and at first I didn't think it was great. I was a little groggy this morning, but by the time we got going it was good.
"And I think we teed off before the sun actually rose. ... But our last three holes it started to rain a little bit and we definitely got lucky with our tee time today."
NOTES: Jordan Spieth found out Wednesday that fame has its drawbacks. Spieth, who two years ago started his season by winning both the Masters and U.S. Open, was signing autographs near the 18th green at Pebble Beach when he got into an argument with a man accused of selling autographs on the Internet. The autograph seeker shouted an obscenity when Spieth was signing for a young boy. Spieth yelled out, "Come on, guys, there are children here." ... Six years ago, Patrick Cantlay, then at UCLA, was the nation's top college player and for a while ranked as the country's No. 1 amateur. He turned pro, and his golf and life have been more difficult. Cantlay had a stress fracture in his back in May 2013. Then, almost exactly a year ago, in February 2016 in front of his eyes in southern California, his caddie, Chris Roth, was struck by a hit-and-run driver and died from the injuries. "It still bothers me every day," said Cantlay, who is a month from his 25th birthday.
