PEBBLE BEACH – First off the No. 1 tee at 8:35 a.m., Sam Stevens opened Thursday’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am needing to block out overnight news that rocked the nation: a plane from his hometown of Wichita, Kansas had crashed on final approach into Washington D.C.

“When I teed off, they hadn’t come out with the flight list,” Stevens said. “I’ve just been thinking about those people and praying for them and their families, because life is a fragile thing.”

Stevens, an ascending 28-year-old pro, didn’t have a hole-in-one to celebrate Thursday like Irishmen Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry. But Stevens’ opening round may have been more remarkable, and with a closing birdie on Pebble Beach’s majestic 18th green, Stevens owned a 5-under 67, three shots behind leader Russell Henley.

Then Stevens’ thoughts circled back to Wichita — and the plane crash that claimed all 67 lives aboard American Airlines Flight 5342 and the Army helicopter that hit it above the Potomac River.

“Wichita is a good size town but it feels like a small community so you feel like you know everybody,” Stevens said. “It’s likely that I know someone or know someone who knows someone that was on the flight. It’s scary.”

Stevens, a runner-up Sunday at The Farmers in San Diego, heard about the plane crash just before going to bed Wednesday night. He spoke to his wife back home. No one knew yet if there were survivors. “I heard it was not looking that good,” said Stevens.

He hadn’t been alerted of anyone “super close” to him being on that plane, so he locked in on golf. His ball-striking wasn’t going great, so he “scraped it around a bit today and made a few nice putts,” said Stevens, who’s tied for 15th.

Sam Stevens, who hails from Wichita, Kansas, blocked out thoughts of Wednesday night’s plane crash near Washington D.C. and carded a 5-under 67 Thursday to emerge only a few shots off the first-round lead of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. (Cam Inman/Bay Area News Group) 

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Stevens moved in seventh grade to Wichita and eventually became a third-generation professional golfer.

As he stood behind the 18th green with his back to Carmel Bay, he didn’t boast about his surroundings – or his emerging impact on the golf world.

“Most people don’t know who I am, so I don’t know if I’m changing (golf) for anyone outside of Wichita,” Stevens said. “We’ve got some good, underrated golf in Wichita, so hopefully some of the kids that are playing junior golf or college golf, I like to talk to them over the phone or when I’m back home, to help them get better.”

Stevens chased his first PGA Tour win last Sunday in San Diego, and his attempt at a closing eagle went awry once his 72nd-hole approach rolled into the water. He lost by a stroke to Harris English. Still, he pocketed $1 million for his second runner-up finish in 70 PGA Tour starts, and he subsequently reserved a spot in Pebble Beach’s first tee time.

When he walked off with his 18th-hole birdie, he was tied for fifth place, with McIlroy, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and a host of other household names; McIlroy would finish 6-under, Scheffler 5-under.

“Those guys are obviously super gifted and have their best stuff maybe a little more often than I do,” Stevens said. “I was a little nervous to start, and to not be feeling I had my best game and finish at 5-under, that’s encouraging to me.”

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Indeed it was, helping temper the sadness of a cross-country plane crash that threatened to distract him.

“It wasn’t necessarily racing through my mind,” Stevens said, “but we should be thinking now about them and those families.”

NOTES

McIlroy, in his PGA Tour season debut, made his second career ace and did so on the fly at Spyglass Hill’s 15th hole. Later in the day, Lowry made his hole-in-one on Pebble Beach’s iconic seventh hole, the eighth ace there in tournament history. … Henley parlayed nine birdies and one bogey into an 8-under 64 to take the lead into Friday’s second round. … Cal product Collin Morikawa briefly resided in first place before bogeying three consecutive holes and finishing 3-under. … Warriors owner Joe Lacob was in a tie for sixth in the pro-am team competition. Former 49ers quarterback Alex Smith and Mackenzie Hughes are tied for 25th, a stroke ahead of Steve Young’s pairing with Beau Hossler.