Wyndham Clark wins AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after final round called off due to weather
Wyndham Clark had to wait through a heavy storm, but he’s officially won his third PGA Tour event.
The PGA Tour called off the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Sunday night due to inclement weather along the central coast in California. The Tour delayed the start of the round twice on Sunday morning before finally calling it for the day. Then on Sunday night, with weather forecasts for Monday not looking great, they opted to end the tournament early.
The Monterey Peninsula was facing potential wind gusts of up to 60 mph while a storm hit the coast, which made the course completely unplayable and prompted countless severe weather warnings and watches throughout the state.
The Tour was going to try to resume play at 8 a.m. local time on Monday. The second designated event of the season featured an 80-player field and did not have a cut. They had all-but ruled out a Tuesday finish, too, as at least half of the field would have had to have finished the fourth round by the time play was called on Monday.
“We’re already dealing with a very soggy golf course,” chief referee Gary Young said on Saturday, via ESPN. “And at that point we’re making the decision whether or not we think that the standards for professional golf are there. We just want to make sure of that on Monday, if we get to that point, that the golf course is such that we are conducting a good quality championship.”
Since the tournament was called early, the Tour reverted back to the 54-hole leaderboard. That made Clark the winner after his remarkable outing on Saturday.
Clark posted a 12-under 60 at Pebble Beach in the third round, which set a new course record and gave him a one-shot lead over the rest of the field. The reigning U.S. Open champion made nine birdies and two eagles on the day to get to his 60, and he made just shy of 190 feet of putts — which is the most by a competitor in a round at Pebble Beach since the stat was first tracked in 2003.
If it weren’t for his lone bogey on the par-3 12th, Clark would have shot a 59.
“I think anytime you shoot 59 I think those nerves come up even if you’re at home,” Clark said on Saturday. “I think that’s for any golfer that happens. To put it on in a place like this in a signature event makes it even a little bit more special. That’s where I think those nerves coming down those last six holes, even though it’s a Saturday, I really felt like it was the end of a tournament because I did have a chance to do something really special. Even though I fell short on the 59, 60, still pretty awesome.”
A win for Clark now marks his third on Tour, and his first since his win at the U.S. Open in Los Angeles last summer. Ludvig Aberg finished in second at 16-under on the week, just a shot back from Clark. Matthieu Pavon finished alone in third at 15-under.
Though he knew how rare it is for the Tour to cancel the final round — this is the first time that it has happened since 2016 — Clark had that thought in his mind headed into Saturday’s round.
“I definitely thought about it last night and this morning with everyone saying how bad the weather’s going to be,” Clark said. “All right, well, you’ve got to have that mentality that today’s the last day so try to go for broke.“With that said, that’s very rare that we have 54 holes, so I wasn’t banking on that.”
Now that the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is over, the Tour will head to the Waste Management Phoenix Open next week.
Source: YahooSports
