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It was the fourth eagle for the week -- and
second of the day -- for Berger, who came to the 72nd hole tied
with Maverick McNealy. But the eagle at the famous par-5
finishing hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links moved Berger ahead by
two to finish with a 7-under 65 and 18-under 270 total.
"(It's) probably right up there at the top," Berger told CBS
Sports about his putt following his win. "That was probably the
best putt I have ever hit in my life. ...
"I've worked so hard in the last six or seven months to get to
where I'm at, so it's nice to see the results come."
Berger had a near flawless round that included an eagle and two
birdies on the front, the eagle at 18 and two birdies on the
back, with a bogey at No. 8 as the only blemish on the
scorecard.
The 27-year-old Florida native, currently No. 15 in the Official
World Golf Ranking, had posted two top-10s in two prior starts
at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (T-10 in 2015, T-5 in 2020), and
last season, he earned his third career victory at the 2020
Charles Schwab Challenge, the PGA Tour's first tournament back
following a three-month hiatus due to COVID-19.
McNealy finished with a 66 to take second place at 16 under, one
stroke ahead of Patrick Cantlay (68) and third-round leader
Jordan Spieth (70), who was coming off his best result in nearly
a year -- a tie for fourth place in the Waste Management Phoenix
Open last week.
Spieth, who won the 2017 Pebble Beach event for one of his 11
career PGA Tour victories, hasn't been victorious since claiming
the 2017 Open Championship. His third-place finish at Pebble
Beach marks just his second top-10 finish since he tied for
ninth at Pebble Beach in 2020 and his second top-20 result since
the Memorial last July.
"After leading by two, I had control of my own destiny today and
I certainly had enough opportunities to be able to -- even
though Daniel went out and shot 7 under -- I could have for sure
gotten up there," said Spieth. "So, you know, it stings a little
right this second, but I finished strong."
Spieth, who matched three bogeys with three birdies to stay even
through 16 holes, finished birdie-birdie to shoot 2 under on the
day.
Rounding out the top five were England's Paul Casey (68) and
American Nate Lashley (69), who finished at 14 under.
Defending champion Nick Taylor of Canada posted his second
consecutive even-par 72 and finished tied for 39th at 4 under.
--Field Level Media
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