PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – For all the stunning views that can be so soothing at this Pacific Coast course, Daniel Berger couldn’t escape the tension when he arrived at the final hole Sunday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
He was tied for the lead, needing a birdie on the par-5 18th to win. Off to his right were out-of-bounds markers below a row of hedges, where Berger hit a drive Saturday that led to a double bogey at Pebble Beach Golf Links. To his left was the ocean.
“I was going to go down swinging,” he said.
Berger went up instead.
Two of the best swings of his career – a driver into the fairway and a 3-wood from 250 yards away in the cool air at sea level – left him 30 feet and two putts away. Berger capped it off with an eagle putt for a 7-under-par 65 and a two-shot victory over Maverick McNealy, who closed with a 66.