Jack Nicklaus has been quoted as saying that what you get at the eighth hole at Pebble Beach is “the finest second shot in golf.”
Tiger Woods wouldn’t disagree. “One of the most daunting second shots in golf,” he once said.
Of course, there’s another warning that doesn’t address the dynamic difficulty of the golf shot itself but rather the mere act of staying safe. “Danger Steep Cliff” is on a sign posted at the edge of a cliff that has been reported to be 100 feet above the waves crashing into a rocky coast.
Jordan Spieth might have had a clear view of all 100 feet as he stood over his second shot in the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. But he was more committed to the business at hand – a 162-yard shot daunting shot over the ravine – than the fact that he didn’t exactly have a net to catch him if he fell forward.
What’s he doing, auditioning to be part of the Flying Wallendas?
“Michael (Greller, his caddie) hated it. He tried to talk me out of it three times. I don’t blame him, looking back,” said Spieth.
As he talked, it was on the heels of birdies at the 17th and 18th that gave him a 9-under 63 and pushed him to within one stroke of the lead at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. In other words, Spieth was still riding a rush of late enthusiasm.
But asked about that shot hours earlier, at the eighth, he concedes that his emotions were shaded more in caution. The tee ball shot at No. 8 runs over the cliff at about 265 yards and Spieth’s attempt at a high fade failed. “I just missiled one,” he said.
His ball sat just inside the red hazard line and Spieth walked gingerly to the edge. “It was kind of weird because it was like, ‘Well, if I can get a swing on it and I can hit it, why would I take a drop?’ ”
Because your momentum might take you forward and over the cliff?
Spieth seemed to agree that that thought entered his mind, but play it, he did, a 7-iron that landed in rough left of the green. Being a magician with his short game, especially in high-profile moments like this, Spieth wedged to 12 feet, made the putt, and took a deep sigh of relief.
“I’m just glad I made the par to make it worth it,” he said, before adding that his view of things changed dramatically when he got up near the green and looked back toward the cliff from where he had hit.
Nervous up top, but filled with adrenaline, Spieth was more relieved down below, knowing he had pulled off a shot that he never wants to face again.
“I think I’ll hit less club (off the tee) tomorrow.”