Pebble Beach: Bonehead Mistake on 18 Costs Daniel Berger

As the week got underway in California at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, many people considered Daniel Berger to be among the favorites to win the coveted title. Berger entered the week ranked 15th in the latest Official World Golf Rankings.

Through 53 holes, Berger did not do anything to take himself out of contention. He opened his week on Thursday by shooting a very solid 67 at Spyglass Hill. He followed that with a 66 on Friday at Pebble Beach. Berger was 11-under par through 36 holes and just one shot behind Jordan Spieth entering the weekend.

More from Pro Golf Now

Berger’s Saturday round was mostly quiet, although on two holes, he had some definite fireworks. Berger opened his round with three straight pars to stay near the lead.

On the par-4 fourth hole, Berger took advantage of an opportunity. He drove the green on the short hole, then made a nine-foot putt for eagle to get to 2-under on his round.

The rest of his front nine consisted of pars with one exception. On the par-3 seventh hole, Berger hit the green but three-putted for a bogey. He would finish the front nine with a 1-under par 35.

As he made the turn, Berger parred the par-4 10th hole before a birdie on the par-4 11th hole. That got him to 13-under par and into a tie for the lead at 13-under par for the tournament.

It looked like Berger would finish at the number and that he and Jordan Spieth would share the lead with one round to play.

Then, Berger hit the famous 18th hole and made a bonehead mistake.

Everyone knows that you can’t go left on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. That’s where the Pacific Ocean is. But you also can’t go too far right, and that’s exactly what Berger did. And it wasn’t necessary.

The 18th was playing long on Saturday, so it was going to take Berger three shots to reach the hole anyway. Rather that hit a driver, which he sprayed to the right and was forced into a penalty, Berger could have taken an iron or a hybrid and found the fairway.

Next. Brooks Koepka: 2021 FedEx Cup Contender or Pretender?. dark

Instead, Berger was forced to re-tee and his third shot landed in the fairway. His fourth got him within about 80 yards of the green. He chipped to about 35 feet, then missed the putt. He would make a four-footer for a double bogey that dropped him into a five-way tie for second place. Instead of playing in the final group with Spieth on Sunday, Berger will be in the next-to-last group, playing with Patrick Cantlay and Russell Knox.

All of this could have been prevented if not for a bonehead mistake on the 18th holes on Saturday.

Home/Golf News