Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 2021: Patrick Cantlay Leads After Record-Tying 62

It's rare that a player could finish atop the leaderboard and not be the main storyline on the day, like Patrick Cantlay did at the AT&T Pebble Pro-Am in California, shooting a 10-under 62. It's even rarer that a player could tie the course record and not be the main attraction. 

But that was the case on Thursday. Sorry, Cantlay fans, but Akshay Bhatia was the story. 

The 19-year-old sponsor exemption is just two strokes behind Cantlay and in a tie for second place alongside Henrik Norlander, posting a fantastic round to vault himself into the running after the first day of action. 

Bhatia hit some fantastic shots and provided a few of the round's best highlights:

"It was a good day," Bhatia told reporters. "I hit a good amount of fairways and that's relatively easy to do out here just because it's pretty wide. And, yeah, 18 greens gave me a lot of good looks today."

"A good day" was something of an understatement for a player appearing in just his 10th PGA Tour event. If that seems like a lot for a 19-year-old, it's because Bhatia made the decision to bypass college and turn professional, a fairly rare decision for top PGA players, who generally spend some time in college.

But after struggling in the 2019-20 season, the decision appears to be paying dividends. 

"I just gained a lot of confidence playing mini-tour events," he said Thursday. "I won my first one and that was a huge stepping stone for me. Then I made my first cut, finished top-10, which was great. Just doing that over the course of a year was really big for me, and I just know that I'm progressing every time I'm teeing it up."

So far, he's progressed enough to give Cantlay a run for his money. It's no small feat to stay in striking distance of a player who finished the day with 10 birdies and posted some ridiculous shots of his own:

"I feel like I'm in a groove right now," Cantlay told reporters.

He also credited Thursday's excellent conditions for his big round.

"I think we got Pebble in pretty much ideal conditions and I don't think it's going to be like that the rest of the week," he said. "The greens were good this morning and receptive, and so I hit a lot of good shots just right out of the gate and made everything. I didn't have very many long putts, but the mid-range putts that I did have I made all of them."

Among the other notable finishers, Jordan Spieth is in the running after shooting a seven under, while Jason Day (-3), Rickie Fowler (even) and Phil Mickelson (+2) left themselves holes to dig out of over the next three rounds.

"Today you needed to step on the gas pedal and take advantage," Spieth, who tied for fourth at the Phoenix Open last week, told reporters. "I got bested by three today. I'm going to have to keep my foot on the gas."

So will the rest of the field if they hope to keep up with Cantlay.