REVEALED: Jordan Spieth’s terrifying edge-of-the-cliff shot ‘forced Pebble Beach bosses to move back hazard line after fans attempted to recreate it’… as American admits he’d now think twice about taking a similar risk
Pebble Beach organizers have revealed they had to amend the eighth hole after Jordan Spieth found himself swinging on the edge of a cliff last year.
The tournament’s Pro-Am began today with the likes of Gareth Bale and Josh Allen trying their luck on the green.
The Buffalo Bills quarterback practiced on Wednesday and hit a fine wedge shot on the seventh hole. It was the eighth that caused Spieth difficulty in 2022.
The world No. 16 went against the advice of his caddie to turn down a penalty shot and instead stood beyond the hazard line and played a shot from the edge of the cliff.
A bird’s eye camera angle showed Spieth taking extreme care to place his feet in the right position, with a wrong move risking a terrifying 70-foot drop below. He stepped back as he struck an impressive shot to save par.
This was the terrifying moment that Jordan Spieth stood on the edge of a cliff face in golf
The American took shot on the edge of a 70ft drop on the eighth hole at Pebble Beach in 2022
The PGA Tour’s chief referee for the event this week Gary Young told ESPN that Pebble Beach bosses had to change the positioning of the red hazard line and enhance the rough thickness after fans wanted to try Spieth’s dangerous shot for themselves.
‘We painted the line where we traditionally have it,’ Young said of the setup for the competition from Thursday through Sunday.
‘I know that as a club, they make a concerted effort to try to move that line further away.
‘Resort play, that’s been their concern, and they just want to make sure that they’re doing everything that they can to discourage people from attempting that shot.’
Spieth was asked about the perilous position he was in last year on Wednesday. He said: ‘I think I saved a stroke. Does the reward outweigh the risk? Not if you think the risk was dying.
‘But I also, I felt I could whack it over the water with a 7-iron and get it up near the green.
‘And I thought up near the green would be easier than hitting a 7-iron from 10 yards back.
‘And, yeah, I think now knowing my son a lot better, he was really young at the time, I may not have hit that shot.’
Spieth was asked on Wednesday about the perilous position he found himself in last year
‘The rough is a uniform 2 inches, but it’s a very thick rough,’ Young added.
‘They fertilize the rough in that area pretty heavily. They do everything again, to promote a good thick bit of rough that’s going to prevent a golf ball from chasing along the ground through the fairway into that area.’
Spieth added on the increased rough: ‘It stops the balls that may have gone through before,’ he said.
‘So there’s no win here. I think I really messed things up by hitting that because I don’t really know the solution.
‘Other than shave it all the way so that, no matter what, it goes right in, and it has less of a chance of stopping short. I don’t really know. Because you can’t put a fence there, because your second shot will hit the fence.’
