Daniel Berger drained an eagle putt on the 18th hole on Sunday to take the title at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by two strokes over Maverick McNealy on Sunday.
For the second week in a row, three-time major championship winner Jordan Spieth entered the final round of a PGA TOUR event with a multiple-shot lead. After Berger double-bogeyed the 18th hole on Saturday, Spieth found himself alone atop the leaderboard at 13-under-par after 54 holes.
Spieth hasn’t recorded a PGA TOUR victory since winning the Open Championship in 2017 and has been having trouble finding his game. Unfortunately, just like last week at the Waste Management, the 11-time TOUR winner struggled on Sunday and will have to wait to break his three-and-a-half-year drought.
Different Format
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the tournament was played without the presence of the amateurs that make the event so special. Instead of a three-course rotation, two different layouts were used for play on Thursday and Friday. The players competed on the Spyglass Hill Golf Course in addition to the Pebble Beach Golf Links, where all play was conducted on the weekend.
After winning last week in Saudi Arabia, pre-tournament favorite Dustin Johnson decided to withdraw and rest up for next week’s Genesis Open. The world’s top-ranked player had odds of +600 before his withdrawal.
The lack of amateurs playing alongside the professionals allowed the PGA TOUR to use some tougher pin positions as well as move the tees around to different lengths. Also, without the normal heavy play on the courses that are open to the public, Pebble Beach, in particular, was in terrific condition, and it probably contributed to the good scoring.
Berger drained a 30-foot eagle putt on the finishing hole. His 18-under-par total was two strokes better than the fast-closing McNealy, three ahead of Spieth and Cantlay, and four shots in front of Paul Casey.
New Favorite
Without Johnson in the field, Patrick Cantlay was the highest-ranked player in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at 11th in the Official World Golf Rankings. He was at +1000 odds, and Cantlay had assumed the favorite position.
Behind Cantlay was Jason Day at +1800 and Paul Casey, winner two weeks ago in Dubai, at +2000.
Cantlay opened the tournament by firing a course-tying 10-under-par 62 at Pebble Beach to lead after the first round. While Cantlay was getting all of the attention, Berger shot a 5-under-par 67 at the much more difficult Spyglass Hill layout.
Spieth matched the feat the next day and moved into a tie for the second-round lead.
Our favorite picks for the tournament were Casey and Berger, who at +4000 was on the fringes of the top futures odds. Both were in contention as the back nine began on Sunday, with Berger tied with Nick Lashley at 15-under-par, with Spieth, Cantlay and Kevin Streelman at 13-under. Casey was lurking a couple of holes ahead at 12-under.
After Berger birdied the par-5 14th to tie Lashley at 16-under-par, the pair remained tied for the next three holes. Both were playing well, and it looked like the tournament would be decided on the par-5 18th hole. Instead, Lashley overshot the 16th green from the fairway and was left with a 15-foot putt for par.
He ended up four-putting for a triple-bogey 7, and a few minutes later, Berger drained a 30-foot eagle putt on the finishing hole. His 18-under-par total was two strokes better than the fast-closing McNealy, three ahead of Spieth and Cantlay, and four shots in front of Paul Casey.
