Clark wins Pebble Beach after 4th round canceled

Golf

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — After 54 holes of play, the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is over and reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark has been declared the winner.

On Sunday morning, the tournament’s final round was postponed to Monday due to inclement weather that included heavy rainfall and high winds up to 60 miles an hour.

But after further assessment by the PGA Tour and Monterey emergency authorities, the Tour announced Sunday night that “out of an abundance of caution for the safety of all constituents” there would be no more golf played.

Though the forecast is expected to improve overnight, the storm and its high winds are set to extend into Monday morning. Monterey authorities have also placed a Shelter in Place order for the Pebble Beach community.

“In accordance with the PGA TOUR Regulations the tournament results will be final through the conclusion of 54 holes,” the tour said in a statement.

The decision means that Clark (-17), who shot a Pebble Beach record 12-under 60 Saturday and held a one-stroke lead over Ludvig Åberg after the third round, has now secured his third PGA Tour victory.

The 2023 U.S. Open champion drained over 150 feet of putts during the first nine holes of his Saturday round leading to a 28 on the front nine. His eagle putt on 18, which would have given him a 59, stopped just short of the cup. The subsequent birdie still gave him the record for the best round ever at the historic venue.

“I hadn’t been in contention really since probably my U.S. Open win,” Clark said after his round Saturday. “I don’t know how you could beat a round like this at Pebble Beach.”

Clark admitted he had been struggling on the greens since his Open win, which had led him to working with a new putting coach this week. After spending three to four hours with his new coach and trying out nine putters in the lead up to the second signature event of the PGA Tour event of the season, Clark found something he liked.

“We resulted to changing no [aiming] line on the putter, I went a little bit shorter and I went from being conventional to crosshand,” Clark said. “A lot of big changes, but when you’re in a spot where I was mentally in putting you kind of needed a change.”

The change worked. Clark led the field in strokes gained putting this week and was lights out on Saturday, making two eagles and nine birdies.

“I don’t think I’ve had a better putting round,” Clark said. “60 is my lowest [personal] score.”

When asked if he had thought about the possibility of Saturday’s round being the final one of the tournament given the incoming weather, Clark said he had considered the possibility and that had also helped fuel his stellar round.

“You’ve got to have that mentality that today’s the last day so try to go for broke,” Clark said. “With that said, that’s very rare that we have 54 holes.”

The last PGA Tour event to be called after 54 holes was the Zurich Classic in 2016, and the last tournament at Pebble Beach to finish after 54 holes was the 2009 event, won by Dustin Johnson.

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