An Early Ending at Pebble Beach

“So yeah, a lot changed, but I think not having the line on the putter’s been the biggest thing for me.”

And that was that. At least that was the plan. No more putting talk. It was an idea from his sports psychologist, Julie Elion. She’s been key on his run.

“Yeah, the brunt of our work has been on the putting recently,” Clark said. “We’ve been so focused on it, and she kind of told me — she told me this week, she said let’s stop having goals for putting and let’s just move on. We’re putting too much emphasis on the putting. We were trying to have the best attitude we could possibly have, especially coming into greens like this where they are really bumpy, so slopey and it makes it really hard to make putts.

“So I was really just trying to focus on making the best stroke I can and regardless of where the ball goes, even though everyone tries to do that, it’s been really hard for me lately. And I’ve done a good job this week of that and I think my patience the first two days on the greens really paid off because obviously I made a lot of putts today.”

Yeah, yeah he did.

A 38-foot, 11-incher on the par-5 2nd. That was for eagle. A 9-foot, 7-incher on the par-4 4th. That was for birdie. A 42-foot, 2-incher on the par-5 6th. That was also for eagle. A 2-foot, 9-incher on the iconic par-3 7th. That was for birdie. A 29-foot, 5-incher on the par-4 8th. That was for birdie. A 24-foot, 7-incher on the par-4 9th. That was for birdie. That equaled 150 feet, 10 inches of putts made — over just the front nine. Stats guru Justin Ray reported that Clark’s total was the most by a pro on the front nine at the event over the past 20 years — by 24 feet, 7 inches. Clark had also fired a front-nine 28, which Ray noted tied the tournament’s front-nine record, recorded three other times (Spike McRoy, during the first round in 2001; Davis Love IIII during the fourth round in 2001; and Brent Schwarzrock, during the first round in 2002.)

But you saw the score in the first paragraph. There was more. Clark dropped a 3-foot, 8-incher on the par-4 10th. He dropped a 15-foot, 6-incher on the par-4 11th. His putt on the par-3 12th was perhaps his best, though. From the tee, he hit into a greenside bunker. He struggled with his second shot. It finished just above another bunker. The righty opted to hit it lefty. His ball finished on the fringe, 25 feet, 8 inches away.

Notably, he started slowly. An even-par 72 during the first round at Spyglass Hill. A five-under 67 during the second round at Pebble, but he had bogeyed two of his last five holes. A par on the 1st hole at Pebble on Saturday. And then?

The hole looked as big as the nearby Pacific. The putting was graceful as the birds soaring overhead.