18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 5, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com the shot. Once the round was over and he could assess the situation calmly, another thought occurred: “Now that I think about it, I maybe could have got a 3-wood or a putter and just tried to put it on the green.” Instead, swinging lefty with a right-handed iron, Clark popped the ball to the fringe on the far side, 25 feet from the pin. He was certain to lose one stroke and probably more. Clark later told reporters that he had accepted the double bogey in his mind and was just trying to nudge the putt that followed somewhere close. But his ball bounded toward the hole, caught the very edge of the cup, teetered and fell in. For all his trouble on 12, Clark had avoided catastrophe, dropping just one stroke. The bogey—the only mark on his scorecard above par—may have been the signature hole of the round. “For that to go in, it was like, ‘All right, man, I’m hot,” he said. HOLES 13-15 When a pitcher is tossing a no-hitter in baseball, his teammates generally remain silent. As Clark’s round progressed, Kuchar, Højgaard and their caddies began to keep their distance. Kuchar rarely spoke, other than to Brian Reed, his man on the bag. “It’s a gentleman’s thing to get out of the way,” Clark says, explaining Kuchar’s reticence. “He didn’t want to jinx it.” Superstitions matter in sports. They are part of the mental game. Perhaps rattled by mishaps on the previous hole, Clark sailed his drive left, into the rough between a fairway bunker and the cart path. The gallery had to make way as he lined up his second shot, which carried enough speed that the ball almost rolled off the back of the green— almost. Clark gathered himself and knocked in a 12-footer to birdie the par 4 13th. While he birdied 14, as well, it required yet another improbable save. Clark’s second shot found the greenside bunker on the right. But he popped a beauty of a wedge that ended up four feet from the pin. “I still don’t know how I did it,” he says. Adding, with poa annua in mind, “the three- to four-footers at Pebble are tough.” He didn’t need to worry on the par 4 15, as a pitch from the rough left him just 20 inches away. But he did record par for the hole. Clark now stood 11-under, on track to at least tie the course record. Another string of birdies, however, would put him in an exclusive group. In the PGA Tour’s history, only 13 golfers carded rounds of 59 or lower. On top-level professional tours, there have been just four rounds as low as 58. Two of these—by Ryo Ishikawa and Kim Seong-Hyeon—were recorded on the Japan Golf Tour. Another occurred on the LIV tour, on a course where rounds of 20-under are the norm. None took place on a par 72 layout. Jim Furyk’s 58 at the 2016 Travelers Championship played on the par 70 River Highlands course in Cromwell, Connecticut remains the only such score on the PGA Tour. Over the final three holes, Clark would flirt with that number. HOLES 16-18 Throughout the day, he had consistently found ways to work out of trouble. If 12 was the only blot on the scorecard, 16 will be remembered for its teasing possibility. Clark’s drive carried over the managed playing area into scruffy native ground. It rested in deep grass on the edge of a hole scoured out by a burrowing animal—a bit of luck, in this case, because officials granted him relief, allowing the golfer to drop the ball in a new location. But he still had to contend with a tree covering his approach. On this day, though, obstacles faded for Clark. He lofted an iron over the tree, having to squat to see where the ball ended up, just over 10 feet away. On a day when great saves had followed errant shots, it was seemingly deja vu all over again. After draining five putts of 25 feet or more, a mere 10-footer seemed certain. On 16, however, Clark’s touch betrayed him. The ball stopped short and he had to tap in for par. He suffered more flatstick frustration on the par 3 17th, when his putt hung on the lip of the hole, but did not fall in. “The only two shots I’d like to have back are the putts on 16 and 17,” he says. “They were dead center, I just left them short.” On the short stroll to the tee on 18, Clark realized the significance of those two near-misses. He had been closing in on a 59 or 58, perhaps even a 57. “I thought, oh my gosh, it would have been really nice to have one of those last two,” he told reporters later. “Because then I only have to birdie 18.” With his mind now set on the possibility of a record, Clark decided to attack the final hole, the iconic par 5 with its tempting and dangerous options. The ledge that runs along the bay narrows the course before it curves slightly to broaden the fairway. Many golfers have watched helplessly as their effort to cut the corner kicks up ocean spray instead. Clark cracked a drive on a line over the bay. It fell in the clean, 224 yards to the flag—a perfect lie that took both of 18’s notorious trees out of play. His second shot—a 4-iron—dropped softly onto the green, stopping within 26 feet of the ultimate target. Although he put together a record round, it is equally memorable for its almosts. And there was one more. For the third time in a row, he was too careful on the green. Clark’s attempt at an eagle—and a 59—slowed to a stop, online but still 7 inches from the cup. “We almost had it,” he rues. • • • Clark recalls the round for the Weekly while on the road, ahead of The American Express Event held at La Quinta, part of the PGA Tour’s California swing earlier in January. The sport’s fickle nature flared and he failed to make the cut. As his return to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as defending champion nears, Clark admits that the record was on his mind “a little”—from his car he could cite each hole in some detail. He credits his team, which includes caddie Ellis and performance psychologist Julie Elion. There was also that guy named Mike. “It’s tough to defend, so you just have to have fun,” Clark notes. After Clark wrapped up his record round, rain began to pelt Pebble Beach. The wind whipped through, pummeling the temporary structures around the course. Officials wisely decided to cap play at 54 holes, making Clark the champion. February at Pebble Beach can offer up beauty. It can also turn the game into a chore. “It’s one of my favorite courses,” Clark says. “There’s no better walk in golf than Pebble Beach— in good weather.” A BRIEF GOLF GLOSSARY FOR THE NON-GOLFER: Bunker/Trap: A purpose-built hazard of sand, meant to force golfers to make decisions on where to hit the ball. Par: The number of shots a golfer is expected to take on a hole, as well as for the entire round. For instance, the 18th hole at Pebble Beach is a par 5. The entire course is a par 72 layout. Birdie: One shot under par. A good thing. Eagle: Two shots under par. A very good thing. Bogey: One shot over par. Not what you want. Double Bogey: Two shots over par. Not good at all. “HE DIDN’T WANT TO JINX IT.” On the 16th and 17th greens, Clark left putts agonizingly close. In a remarkable round with a number of small miscues, it is those two strokes he would like to have back.
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