Left-hander Hank Lebioda simply had the right stuff.
The 29-year-old Lebioda, who has missed the cut in his last seven starts on the PGA Tour, posted an eight-under-par 63 at Monterey Peninsula Country Club to take a one-stroke lead over Kurt Kitayama of Chico, Chad Ramey and Harry Hall of England after one round of the 82nd AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
“I got off to a good start with some early birdies and just kept going, made only one bogey all day,” said Lebioda, whose only pro victory came in the 2017 Mackenzie Investments Open on the PGA Tour Canada. “I hit a lot of real good iron shots and wedges, too, and got the ball close to the hole so I was able to make a lot of birdies. It was just real clean.
“I put in a lot of hard work over the last three months because I wasn’t playing very well, and it’s nice to see the fruits of your labor pay off. I’m certainly not there yet, but I’m really glad to take this step when the chance game.
“I’m playing Pebble Beach tomorrow and just want to have fun, and have another good score.”
Lebioda made three birdies in a span of four holes through No. 6, with his lone bogey wedged in there on the fifth hole, added a birdie at No. 9 before and reeled off five more on the back nine in his 63 before the wind picked up late in the day.
Kitayama, who played at UNLV, made five birdies on the first six holes of the back nine in a 7-under 64 at Monterey Peninsula, where Hall eagled No. 16 before adding five straight birdies while finishing another 64 on the front nine, while Ramey birdied six of the first seven holes en route to a 7-under 65 at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
“I didn’t have the best warmup, but I had a good start with birdies on the first two holes, which just set the tone for the day,” said Ramey, whose only victory on the PGA Tour came last year in the Corales Puntacana Championship. “I just had a lot of control and played with a lot of confidence.
“My swing feels really good and I’m rolling the ball really well on the greens. When you’re playing with that much confidence on the course, it can take you a long way. Playing that well at Pebble, you’ve got to be happy, and I just want to keep it going.
“You have to be careful gazing out at the ocean here, it’s so beautiful, but you don’t want to lose your concentration.”
Martin Trainer of France, who played at USC, birdied six of the last seven holes at Monterey Peninsula for a 6-under 65 and is tied for fifth with Eric Cole of Palm Springs, who had four birdies on the back nine in another 65 at Monterey Peninsula, and Aaron Baddeley of Australia, who eagled No. 10 in one more 65 at Monterey Peninsula.
Ben Martin totaled 5-under 66 with seven birdies at Monterey Peninsula and is tied for eighth with Scott Stallings, who eagled the 11th hole in a 5-under 67 at Pebble Beach; Kyle Westmoreland, who birdied the last hole for a bogey-free 67 at Pebble; Ben Martin, who birdied four of his first seven holes in a 66 at Monterey Peninsula; Keith Mitchell, who had three birdies on each nine in a 5-under 67 at Spyglass Hill, and Harry Higgs, who made three birdies on each nine in a 66 at Monterey Peninsula.
Tenth-ranked Matt Fitzpatrick of England hit his tee shot out of bounds on the last hole and closed with a double-bogey 6 to shoot 1-under 71 at Spyglass Hill and is in a tie for 61st that includes defending champion Tom Hoge, who carded a 1-under 71 at Pebble.
Justin Suh of San Jose and USC was 4-over through eight holes at Spyglass Hill when he withdrew because of a shoulder injury.
All golfers in the field will play Pebble, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula once in each of the first three rounds, and after the cut is made the final round of the former Bing Crosby Clambake will be played exclusively at Pebble Beach.
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