Akshay Bhatia reeled off six birdies in seven holes for a 4-under 68 round and a two-shot lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His 19-under 197 total gives him a two-stroke lead over Collin Morikawa, Sepp Straka and Jake Knapp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two-time PGA Tour winner began the third round in a share of the lead with Ryo Hisatsune and led by as many as five shots at one stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He made his first bogey on the par-3 12th and dropped another shot on the par-3 17th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three players – Collin Morikawa, Sepp Straka and Jake Knaap – are in the chasing pack, two strokes behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Morikawa hit all 18 greens in regulation during a third-round and round of the day 62, including five birdies in his final six holes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is only the seventh player since 1985 to hit all 18 greens in regulation at Pebble Beach Golf Links. The six-time PGA Tour winner is seeking his first win since the 2023 Baycurrent Classic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year, Straka held the 36-hole (by three) and 54-hole lead by one over Shane Lowry and eventual champion Rory McIlroy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Playing in back-to-back groups, Knapp (T2\/-17) and Sam Burns (T7\/-14) hole out for eagles on the par-4 first hole from 130 and 156 yards, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Knapp later eagled the par-5 18th<\/sup> hole to become the first player in a non-major championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links to bookend a round with eagles. He is also the tenth player during the Shotlink era to start and finish a round with eagles<\/p>\n\n\n\n Burns later birdied the 18th<\/sup> hole with a chip-in from 47\u2019 2\u201d off the green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is T22 at 11-under and trails by eight in bid for his 18th<\/sup> straight top-10 finish on the Tour. He is tied with FedExCup leader Chris Gotterup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Defending champion McIlroy is a further two strokes behind tied-39.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Third-Round Leaderboard<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Akshay Bhatia reeled off six birdies in seven holes for a 4-under 68 round and a two-shot lead<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-9529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-golf"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tPos.<\/strong><\/td> Player<\/strong><\/td> R1<\/strong><\/td> R2<\/strong><\/td> R3<\/strong><\/td> Total<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> 1<\/td> Akshay Bhatia<\/td> 65 PB<\/td> 64 SH<\/td> 68 PB<\/td> 197 (-19)<\/td><\/tr> T2<\/td> Collin Morikawa<\/td> 69 SH<\/td> 68 PB<\/td> 62 PB<\/td> 199 (-17)<\/td><\/tr> T2<\/td> Sepp Straka<\/td> 66 PB<\/td> 66 SH<\/td> 67 PB<\/td> 199 (-17)<\/td><\/tr> T2<\/td> Jake Knapp<\/td> 66 SH<\/td> 67 PB<\/td> 66 PB<\/td> 199 (-17)<\/td><\/tr> 5<\/td> Jacob Bridgeman<\/td> 67 PB<\/td> 65 SH<\/td> 68 PB<\/td> 200 (-16)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"