PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Brandt Snedeker had the club in his hand even as his caddie stood next to him on the tee going through his yardage book. Moments later, Snedeker took a quick waggle with his 8-iron, set his feet and launched a shot that plopped down 3 feet next to the cup.

It was his first birdie at Spyglass Hill on Friday, and by the end of the day, Snedeker was tied for the lead with Ted Potter Jr. in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

“Any time you can get a win at Pebble Beach, it would be pretty special,” Snedeker said after his bogey-free round of 4-under 68 at Spyglass, the toughest of the three courses in the rotation.

Potter three-putted his final hole at Monterey Peninsula for a 67, joining Snedeker at 8-under 134. Potter will go to Spyglass on Saturday.

Hunter Mahan was among those one shot behind. With one more round before everyone has played all three courses in the rotation, the leaderboard was a big traffic jam. Three dozen players were within five shots of the lead.

Snedeker made it look easy at Spyglass, even though the day began in rugged conditions with a light rain and temperatures in the low 40s. He hit a towering 8-iron on the downhill, par-3 12th hole that plopped 3 feet next to the cup for his first birdie. He added a pair of simple up-and-down birdies on the par 5s and then closed out a solid day with an 8-iron to 5 feet on the eighth hole.

His goal for the last two days?

“Not do anything stupid,” he said. “Unfortunately, I don’t do it very often.”

Potter remains somewhat of a mystery. He won last year in his rookie season at The Greenbrier Classic to claim a peculiar footnote in history — the only player to win a PGA Tour event in which Woods and Mickelson missed the cut. Still, his performance has been spotty. Potter missed nine out of the 12 cuts going into The Greenbrier, and then missed four out of nine cuts after his win.

“It’s just a funny game like that,” Potter said. “Some weeks you play really well and you get the right kicks and everything goes well. And then there are weeks you can still hit the ball well and get the bad kicks.”