This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
History will judge whether the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am will be remembered more for everything going right for Wyndham Clark in the greatest round ever shot at the iconic golf course, or for just about everything going wrong for the PGA Tour.
Probably both.
The Tour's attempt to award its oldest title sponsor with a Signature Event and alter one of the most beloved tournaments of the year went horribly wrong, with weather forcing the tournament to end after 54 holes.
Clark needed every bit of the course-record-shattering 12-under-par 60 he shot on Saturday, because he wound up edging Ludvig Aberg by a single shot.
After Saturday's rounds were complete, a Monday finish was looking mighty likely because the winds were forecast to be so strong Sunday that golf was to be unplayable. The expected postponement came Sunday morning. But then there was a big surprise Sunday evening, when the Tour announced that Monday would be no better, and the tournament was called.
"The storm affecting the Monterey Peninsula throughout the day Sunday is forecast to continue into the early hours of Monday with very strong winds," the Tour said in statement. "Although conditions are forecast to improve through the morning Monday, after consultation with Monterey County emergency authorities, who have implemented a Shelter in Place order until early tomorrow morning for the greater Pebble Beach community, and out of an abundance of caution for the safety of all constituents, there will be no play on Monday. Therefore, in accordance with the PGA TOUR Regulations the tournament results will be final through the conclusion of 54 holes."
So there you have it.
Pebble Beach week was a washout, in more ways than one.
The local community cherished its annual tournament just the way it always was – 156 golfers, 156 amateurs, four days of amateur play, serious golf mixed in with the celebrity antics of Billy Murray, Ray Romano and others. The locals didn't get that tournament and also didn't really get the one that was supposed to take its place: A limited field of 80 of the best golfers in the world coming together to give the tournament its strongest field in years and, presumably, having a star-studded leaderboard come late Sunday afternoon.
Instead, this is what they got, and on Saturday afternoon:
- Clark
- Aberg
- Matthieu Pavon
- Thomas Detry
- Mark Hubbard
Not exactly Scheffler-McIlroy-Hovland-Cantlay-Schauffele, or even Morikawa-Thomas-Spieth-Homa-Fitzpatrick.
Even if there were a fourth round Sunday, the local fans that love to come out would not have been allowed in, because of the weather.
Weather wreaked havoc all tournament, with preferred lies in play across all three days.
At the beginning of the week, tournament organizers had spoken of getting a prized Signature event in perpetuity. Now you have to wonder whether the Tour wants to chance this happening again. The weather is often dicey in the Bay Area this time of year, though rarely is it as bad as it was this week.
To make matters even worse for the Tour, just days after announcing a potential $3 billion influx of cash from a consortium of sports team owners called the Strategic Sports Group, LIV Golf debuted its season. Instead of going opposite Scheffler-McIlroy-Hovland-etc., LIV had the golf airwaves all to itself Sunday. Whether anyone tuned in on the CW Network, we'll find out.
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Wyndham Clark
It's not the way Clark wanted to win his third career title, but he surely will take it. He broke the all-time course record at Pebble by two strokes, previously held by Tom Kite (1983), David Duval (1997), Cantlay (2021) and, of course, Matthias Schwab (2022).
With his win at the U.S. Open and Wells Fargo last year, Clark is now tied with Viktor Hovland for most wins on Tour since last May. Fun fact: All three of Clark's wins have come with $3.6 million paydays.
We wrote often last year that Clark's two best clubs were his driver and his putter. That's a great combination to have, though Clark really hadn't contended since the Open last June.
After he was declared the winner on Sunday evening, he was asked about the changed format for this year.
"Yeah, it's an interesting question you ask because it's a very historic tournament and I know it goes all the way back to Bing Crosby and even before that with having all the celebrities and being a three-round tournament played at three courses.
"You know, I love that it's an elevated event, a signature event. I loved that the best players in the world were here at one of the most iconic places in golf and I think it should always be that way. It will be interesting to see what happens going forward."
Right or wrong, it's a little hard to draw substantive conclusions from a 54-hole tournament. Clark did not endure the pressures of holding onto a lead on a Sunday, though we know he can close out a major. So there is that.
It's similarly hard to draw conclusions from the other high finishers. But we can only go by the information we have as we forge into the Backspin.
Ludvig Aberg
In 19 career PGA Tour starts, Aberg has a win and now two runners-up. With all the distractions – the weather, amateurs playing for the first two rounds – this is not an easy tournament for a first-rimer to do well in. But Aberg showed us yet again he is not an ordinary player.
Matthieu Pavon
Just as everyone expected, Pavon has gotten off to the fastest start on Tour in 2024. The Frenchman followed up his win at Torrey Pines with a solo third at Pebble Beach. And that followed a tie for seventh at the Sony Open. Nothing in Pavon's seven years on the DP World Tour suggested any of this was possible. He's 31, but he wouldn't be the first guy whose career shifted into another level after turning 30.
Mark Hubbard
Hubbard has made four starts in 2024, and he's gotten better every week. From T57 at the Sony to T47 at the Amex to T20 at the Farmers to a tie for fourth at Pebble Beach. Entering the week eighth on Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach while also being a better-than-average putter, Hubbard has had success on shorter tracks. This is just the latest example.
Thomas Detry
The moment may have been too big for the 31-year-old Belgian last week at the Farmers, where he followed a 66-68 Thursday-Friday with a 73-74 Saturday-Sunday. After last week's collapse, the last thing you'd expect would be Detry getting in the mix again so soon after. But he shot 63 on Thursday and wound up tied for fourth. Detry entered the week ranked 12th on Tour in SG: Putting.
Justin Thomas
Thomas keeps saying he's close and the evidence is backing him up. He tied for sixth at Pebble – his worst finish in his past five worldwide starts. That's right, the others were all top-5s, including a T3 at the Amex. The big concern remains the putter: Thomas ranked 67th in the small 80-man field.
Scottie Scheffler
In only three rounds, Scheffler gained almost a shot on the field on the greens. He ranked 32nd in Putting. Sure, that's middle of the pack in this field, but he hasn't been that good very often of late. Scheffler tied for sixth, and now he heads to Phoenix trying to complete a three-peat at the wildest week in golf.
Jason Day
Day has been great at Pebble Beach through the years, so his tie for sixth in not a revelation. He wasn't off to the best start in 2024, so this is welcome news for him, even if it did happen where he is a course horse.
Tom Hoge
Hoge hasn't often played well at Pebble through the years, but he did break through for his first PGA Tour win there in 2022. And now he added a tie for sixth. With only one top-35 in his first four starts, Hoge needed a good result. He is so up-and-down, though, even from week to week, that's he's a hard guy to rely on in DFS or any other format.
Eric Cole
Cole makes Sungjae Im look like a slacker. The year is five weeks old and Cole has played all five weeks, with Phoenix on his dance card for next week. After last week's missed cut, we thought a week off was in order, though there was no way he was skipping a Signature event. Good thing, because Cole tied for 14th, his third top-15 already in 2024. Still, we think a week off would do him well, because after Phoenix comes another Signature even at Riviera. So he will have played in the first seven tournaments of the season.
Peter Malnati
A lot of eyeballs rolled when the 249th-ranked golfer in the world, one who just so happened to be on the Tour's Player Advisory Council, got a sponsor invite into a Signature event. Malnati wound up tied for 14th, which proves his worthiness to some but undoubtedly not everyone.
Max Homa
At a tournament at which Homa was on many people's short lists to win, he was never a factor and tied for 66th. So even if there were four rounds, he wouldn't have mattered. Same thing for this next guy.
Rory McIlroy
McIlroy came flying out of the gate on Thursday morning in his 2024 PGA Tour debut, shooting 6-under though his first 14 holes to grab the early lead. But he limped home with two bogeys and a triple, which included a two-stroke penalty, and that was that. McIlroy tied for 66th. After skipping Phoenix, we'll see him next at Riviera.
Nick Dunlap
Dunlap took last week off to consider his options after he won the Amex as a 20-year-old amateur and college sophomore. He chose Option 1: turn pro. So Dunlap left Alabama to start a career on the PGA Tour, and it didn't go great in Week 1. He finished last by two strokes. Our greatest fear is that the win at the Amex could have been a one-in-a-lifetime moment, or at least once in 33 years, which was the last time an amateur had won a Tour. Dunlap will not play Phoenix this week but should be in the Signature field at Riviera a week later. And there, there will be a cut.
