The 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am leaderboard is littered with some of golf’s biggest names, but Akshay Bhatia holds a share of the lead heading into the weekend after two rounds.
Bhatia was bogey-free through the first two days of play at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, shooting a 65 at Pebble Beach on Thursday and an 8-under 64 at Spyglass Hill on Friday. As is often the case with players who find success on Pebble Beach’s small greens, Bhatia’s iron play paved the way. Through the first two rounds, he ranks third in terms of strokes gained on approach.
The young left-hander has a sharp shot from tee to green, and although he has made occasional mistakes, he is a perfect 6-for-6 in getting things up and down. That’s the secret to success at this event, and while the pros lose their amateur partners for the weekend and can focus solely on playing at Pebble Beach, Bhatia will look to continue his incredible ball-striking performance.
The light breeze and soft greens of the California coast create ideal scoring conditions, and despite a bogey-free performance thus far, Bhatia has Ryo Hisatsune in the lead. The young Japanese star has been on a roll since the start of the season, extending his early lead with a first-round 62 before fading a bit on Friday, but compiling a solid 67 to maintain his share of the lead.
Leading the pack is Rickie Fowler, who matched Bhatia’s 64 in the Spyglass and enters the weekend with a total of 14 under par. Fowler is now in position to compete for his first win since 2023 and hopes to continue his strong start into 2026.
Fowler hasn’t traditionally done well at Pebble Beach, but he’s been the best player there this week with irons, improving his approach by 4.8 strokes so far. The 37-year-old stressed that he is physically better this year than in 2025, when he battled a shoulder injury, but was able to secure a top-50 place and a spot in all signature events this year.
“Last year I had a bad shoulder so I was just trying to get as much done as I could. Finishing in the top 50 definitely earned me time off so that was a nice bonus,” Fowler said. “So, like I said, to earn that time off and get my body in better shape to be ready to play this year, that’s what I was trying to try to do.”
That extra vacation certainly seems to have paid off, as a pair of top 20 players started the season with a late tee time at Pebble Beach over the weekend. Fowler will need to continue his strong iron play Saturday and Sunday to compete for the win, but so far he has been aggressive on the soft greens.
Although the forecast predicted that the wind would pick up Saturday afternoon and continue to gust between 17 and 21 mph during Sunday’s final round, the first two days were certainly the best time to conquer the course. Rain continues to fall, adding to the dire situation. Not only will it be harder for leaders to hold out in rapidly changing conditions, but it will also be harder for the chasing pack to get behind them.
leaders
T1. Akshay Bhatia, Ryo Hisatsune (-15)
Bhatia had a rocky start in 2026 with two missed cuts, but he found something with T3 last week in Phoenix and carried that form into Pebble Beach. Bhatia, a two-time PGA Tour winner, can shed tears when things get heated. That will be a must, as he will need to keep the pedal to the metal if he is to get the biggest win of his young career, given his score to start the week at Pebble Beach.
Hisatsune, on the other hand, has been on a tear the past three weeks, but continues to grow in confidence in his ability to compete against the best. After T2 at Torrey Pines and T10 at TPC Scottsdale, he continues to learn how to put himself in the right position and handle weekend nerves. Putters are in the lead this week and appear to be very comfortable on the Pore greens, which could be a fit for some players. We’ll see if that applies to the weekend, but after the last two weeks, late tee times should feel like part of the routine.
With the weather expected to change dramatically over the weekend, the challenge for both Bhatia and Hisatsune will be holding off the best field of the young season.
other candidates
T3. Rickie Fowler, Sam Barnes (-14)
T5. Minu Lee, Sepp Straka, Jacob Bridgman (-12)
T8. Tom Hoge, Jake Knapp (-11)
T10. Hideki Matsuyama, Matt Fitzpatrick, Keegan Bradley, Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele, and 2 others (-10)
T17. Rory McIlroy, Chris Gottapp, Tommy Fleetwood, and 2 others (-9)
T34. Scotty Scheffler and 10 others (-6)
Burns joined Fowler at 14 under, news that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but it’s a hot putter that’s competing with Burns. Straka cracked the top 10 on Pebble last year and stands to back that up again in 2026, finishing in the top 5 along with Min Woo Lee.
There are some big names in the T10 group, but even among the other major winners, Spieth is the one getting the most attention this weekend. We haven’t seen anything close to his peak in a while, but any signs of life from the three-time major champion give us hope that he’s on his way back to top form.
A little off the pace is Chris Gotterup, but he is finally settling in and will need a big effort on Saturday to get his third win of the young season. Defending champion Rory McIlroy also entered the weekend at 9 under par and would feel like he had a few shots left on Friday, but if he repeats this he will become an even bigger threat.
Next up is Scottie Scheffler, who is nine shots off the pace, but like last week in Phoenix, he bounced back from a rough Thursday and shot a 66 on Friday to shoot up the leaderboard. He’ll need to produce something magical to join the team late Sunday, but after nearly pulling off a huge upset win a week ago, he’s impossible to ignore.
2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am odds and picks updated
- Akshay Bhatia (+340)
- Rickie Fowler (11/2)
- Ryo Hisatsune (11/2)
- Sam Burns (6-1)
- Sepp Straka (14-1)
- Lee Min Woo (16-1)
- Jake Knapp (20-1)
- Rory McIlroy (22-1)
- Jacob Bridgman (22-1)
- Xander Schauffele (25-1)
The tournament could change dramatically if the wind picks up, and it will be important for the players to get off to a fast start in the third round before battling through the difficult weather on Sunday. I tend to trust players who value hitting the ball more than putting when the going gets tough, and that points me to Fowler and Straka for players who are slightly off the lead. I’m also not averse to including pre-tournament favorites like McIlroy and Scheffler at long odds. Because it’s certainly possible that the top of the leaderboard could come back a little bit in tougher conditions that the elite players might be able to handle a little bit better.
