Pebble

A birdie at the last hole saw Collin Morikawa take victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – his first PGA Tour win in more than two years.

Having been two ahead with two to play, the American’s lead disappeared as Australian Min Woo Lee birdied 18, before Morikawa bogeyed the penultimate hole himself.

Locked at 21-under, the pair were soon joined by Austrian Sepp Straka and a play-off looked a possibility.

But following a 20-minute wait to play his second shot as Jacob Bridgeman battled strong winds up ahead, Morikawa found the green and then left himself a short putt to card a 67 and edge ahead to end his trophy drought.

“It’s special for a lot of reasons,” said the 29-year-old afterwards.

“I’ve put countless hours and nights – probably too many hours – thinking about golf.

“I kept believing in myself. Honestly, at the beginning of this week it didn’t really feel like this was going to be possible.”

Akshay Bhatia holds a two-shot lead after the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as fellow American Collin Morikawa’s round of 62 moved him into contention for his first victory in almost two and a half years.

Bhatia had been tied for top spot on 15 under with Ryo Hisatsune going into the day’s play, but six birdies in his first seven holes helped him on his way to a lead that was as many as five shots at one point.

Battling blustery conditions in California, a bogey at 17 saw his advantage cut to two.

Gusts then slowed play down considerably on the final green and a missed putt for birdie saw Bhatia card 68 to stand at 19 under.

Morikawa’s round, 10-under-par, saw him climb the leaderboard into second at 17 under.

An eagle at the last hole – having managed the same at the first – moved another American, Jake Knapp, into joint-second with his round totalling 66.

Austrian Sepp Straka made it a three-way tie with a 67.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy, six back at the start of the day, fell further behind the lead despite starting with two birdies in the opening three holes.

A three-over-par seven at the fourth and a double bogey at the last saw him shoot an even par 72 and trailing by 10.

With heavy rain and strong winds forecast for Sunday, start times for the tournament’s final round have been moved forward and will now run from 07:22-09:45 local time, with threesomes off split tees.