Hole 18 at Pebble Beach Pro-Am was twice a fork in the road for Daniel Berger this week. On Saturday afternoon, he did double bogey after hitting the ball out of bounds. On Sunday, he looked forward to a two-stroke victory over Maverick McNealy. A four-stroke shot that changed the entire tournament.
Berger’s one-two on Saturday in the third round meant that Berger was no longer in the final group for the final. That may have been a good thing for him, considering Jordan Spieth was in the final group, and that dynamic didn’t always end well for Berger. He lost to Spieth in a playoff at the 2017 Travelers Championship and somehow found himself less after Spieth played mediocre golf on Saturday at Pebble.
Berger played ahead of his former teammate in the Presidents’ Cup on Sunday and hit two 3s on the first three holes. He was eliminated in 33, and it was clear that he was among the two or three players who really dominated the golf tournament. After an almost empty hole on the 15th left him rolling in the sand, the stage was set for a crazy ending, and Berger delivered, albeit in a very different way than on Saturday.
At 16 under 71 holes, Berger detonated a drive at No. 18. With Patrick Cantlay and Nate Lashley pinching his heels together with McNealy in the house at 16 below, he hit a vigorous 3-wood to set up two putts to win him. He just needed one of them for the 65 and to win.
“It was the best shot I ever hit in my life,” said Berger, who also noted that 3-wood into 18 was the best he has ever hit.
This opens an impressive 12-month race for Berger, who has top ten in his last 19 events since last year’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am. This includes two wins – one at Colonial in the first PGA Tour event of a three-month break and this one.
It’s big any year, but even more so for Berger, as he missed the Masters in November and is trying to qualify for the first Ryder Cup of his incredible career. A famous hole made a big difference in how things ended on Saturday, as well as Sunday. For Berger, the order in which things happened was very important and resulted in the fourth victory of his career on the PGA Tour. Note: A +
Maverick McNealy (2nd): The former Stanford star clearly learned from another Stanford star. He needed the Eagle at No. 18 to take a chance, and he landed a missile on his second shot before the club spun its iron rod. A spectacle to be seen. He gets an “A” during the week, but an “A +” only on the return. Note: A +
Patrick Cantlay (T3): Cantlay felt like the problem for leaders for much of the weekend, but it never really materialized for the world’s No. 1 ex-amateur. After a 62 on Thursday, he stagnated on Friday at Spyglass Hill in the second round, and it probably cost him a spot in the lead on Sunday. However, each time I see him I am more impressed. It makes punctuation seem so easy, even when I know it isn’t. The numbers don’t say that, but he really looks like one of the top 5 players in the world right now. Grade A-
JOrdan Spieth (T3): The four-time champion ran out of magic on Sunday night when his driver left him and he did not give himself any chances to score. Still, I left this week even more encouraged than I was last week because he fought this week without giving any putts. (Spieth lost strokes to the field with his cue.) What he did this week is sustainable and resembles what we used to get from Spieth every week. Average to above average with the pilot, shaking with his irons, and if he strokes, he wins. That’s the formula, and it’s the one Spieth used this week to stay in the mix for about 70 holes. Grade A
Nate Lashley (T5): Boy, the ending was difficult. He played so well on 69 holes, then four-putted 12 feet on the 16th hole to give Berger a clear path to victory. A lot to take away for Lashley, who went to the battle against Cantlay, Berger and Spieth, but that 7 in No. 16 will last. Serie B-