Slog. Snoozefest. Boring.

There are countless words you could use to describe the start of the PGA Tour season, but exciting isn't exactly one of them. Leaderboards have been vacant of the game's best players, and while some of that is explainable — Scottie Scheffler's surgery, Xander Schauffele's rib injury and Rory McIlroy's presence across the pond — it's been tough for fans to turn on the television.

Two weeks ago for Sepp Straka's win at The American Express, a mere 230,000 viewers tuned in for the final-round broadcast. Sure, the AmEx isn't exactly the biggest draw on the schedule, but that number is less than half of the viewership that watched then-amateur Nick Dunlap win in 2024.

A signature event at Pebble Beach couldn't have come at a better time for the Tour, with names like Scheffler and McIlroy slated to battle on the cliffs of Monterey Peninsula. But through 36 holes, both players have a lot of work to do.

McIlroy played a flawless front nine around Pebble on Friday, posting a bogey-free 4-under 32. But most of the back nine was a different story. He made four bogeys and couldn't capitalize on a few wedge chances on Nos. 10 and 11. But like Al Pacino in Godfather III, "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" After a 349-yard drive down the iconic par-5 18th, McIlroy hit his second to 25 feet and drained the eagle to get back to 2 under for the day and 8 under total, six shots back on Straka.

As for Scheffler, he couldn't get much going thanks to losing strokes to the field both with his approach play and around the greens. Outside of a stretch of three straight birdies on Nos. 6-8, Scheffler was pedestrian and signed for a 2-under 70.

With the absence of stars within a few shots — outside of Tony Finau and Tom Kim who are tied for fourth at 10 under, four back — it's hard to overstate just how important Saturday is for the Tour.

Signature events are rare migration spots for the circuit's best, tournaments fans have circled on the calendar as opportunities to spend some time on the couch tuned into Golf Channel and CBS. But if they can't recognize any of the names in the bottom right-hand corner of the broadcast, they'll change the channel or pick up their own sticks and head to the course for a weekend 18.

McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay are six back, Scheffler and Rickie Fowler trail by seven. A handful of these names need to make a charge on Moving Day of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to ensure an entertaining and must-watch final 18 holes.

Let's see if they can answer the call.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: The PGA Tour needs its stars to move into contention at Pebble Beach