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Good morning! Whew, that was a wild ending to the third round, huh? The weather is expected to be even crazier for the final round. Side note: I've lost my hat three times already. Expecting that number to double by nightfall. Let's debrief ...

Buckle up

The final moments of the third round at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am provided a brief glimpse of what could be a Sunday of glorious weather madness. At least for those of us watching at home (or the comfy confines of the media center). For those out there playing … “It’s going to suck,” said Collin Morikawa.

Whoever can embrace the suck will be the one holding the trophy in the end, though that’s no easy feat, as we saw late on Saturday, when the final two groups reached the 18th with winds whipping harder than we’ve seen over three days. Min Woo Lee stepped away from his par putt multiple times as his ball oscillated on the green, a saga that lasted several minutes.

“I understand I have to hit the putt, but when the ball is full oscillating, it’s just hard to pull the trigger,” Lee told me after.

Minutes later, a similar story played out for Ryo Hisatsune and Akshay Bhatia, who both missed what would be very makeable putts in calm conditions.

“You're trying to make a good stroke and then you're trying to make sure you kind of hopefully get the ball to start somewhere near the hole," Bhatia said. "So again, I was happy to make 5 there."

In what was otherwise a relatively normal day at Pebble Beach up to that point, it was a reminder that, as benign as the first three rounds were, it can all turn on a dime. Winds are forecasted to reach 30-35 mph on Sunday, along with heavy rain. What we saw in the closing moments on Saturday could be what the leaders face for the entire back nine. That will throw the entire field for a loop. Who will be able to control their trajectory? Who will be able to control their emotions? That will be as important as anything. It’s a mental and physical examination, and we couldn’t ask for any better theater. In some ways, it will feel like a completely different tournament. After three days of historic scoring and players pinning their ears back, the 18 holes will only be about survival. That’s the recipe for chaos.

Bhatia leads by two strokes over a talented trio of Collin Morikawa, Jake Knapp and Sepp Straka, though he led by as many as five strokes before the weather turned and kept him at bay. He acknowledged he got the short end of the stick, but didn’t wallow in it.

“It's part of golf, you know?” Bhatia said.

That’s a good attitude to take into Sunday. I could’ve used it as I walked around Pebble Beach with a steady shiver on Saturday. The whole field will need to do better than me.

Morikawa magic

Before things turned biblical at the end, conditions on the Monterey Peninsula were favorable for low scores. Look no further than Collin Morikawa.

Out early on Saturday, Morikawa put together the best ball-striking round of his career and the best that this tournament has ever seen. Morikawa hit all 18 greens en route to gaining 6.45 strokes on approach, the best performance of his seven years as a pro. He shot 10-under 62 (with a bogey!) to vault into a tie for second. He will play in the final pairing with Bhatia and Knapp.

You could see how much the round meant in the aftermath to Morikawa, who, in my time covering golfers, is one of the hardest on himself. He hasn’t won since 2023 and has been subject to criticism as he’s struggled to capitalize on the opportunities he’s had since. He’s as critical as anybody. But he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. It was just one round, and if he doesn’t follow it up tomorrow, those criticisms will continue. Morikawa knows that. He’s embracing it.

“The results matter sometimes and for me in this world after the past, you know, year, three years, whatever you want to call it, I just haven't had the results I've wanted,” he said

“I'm out here to win,” he continued. “When you finish 30th, 15th, third, at the end of the day like I want to win. I've got to set that mindset at the beginning of the day, at the beginning of the week and now I think we've given ourselves at least a chance come tomorrow.”

If he replicates anything close to this ball-striking performance Sunday, he’ll have a heck of a chance. Read more about it here.

Tracking the Scheffler streak

Scottie Scheffler has 17 straight top 10s, a stat so remarkable that I haven’t been able to shake it all week. It stuck out to me today, in particular, as I walked much of Scheffler’s back nine. He wasn’t perfect, but he was stout and played bogey-free golf to shoot 2-under on the back and 5-under overall.

What did that get him? Only a jump of 12 spots on the leaderboard. He enters the final round in a tie for 22nd with his streak officially on notice. He’s three shots out of the top 10 entering Sunday.

The thing about Scheffler, though, is that he cares very little for stats like these. It’s fun for us to track, and it helps us put his greatness into context, but it typically means very little to him. We’ve seen that time and time again when we ask about milestones, so much so that much of the media has just stopped asking because we know what he’s going to say. Alas, I decided to ask him on Saturday anyway.

“I mean, I think 17 straight top 10s is a good result from a lot of consistent play,” Scheffler said. “Outside of that, I could not care any less.”

“I figured,” was my response.

“Yeah,” Scheffler said with a grin.

Either way, I’ll be tracking it. Hopefully someone else out there cares.