The three-time major winner took those recovery skills to another level at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Saturday’s third round in what proved to be a bit of a cliffhanger.
After his drive on the par-four eighth hole landed precariously near the edge of a cliff, rather than taking a drop to move his ball — that would have cost a shot — Spieth decided to take it on.
He addressed and readdressed the ball a few times, adjusting his footing to ensure his stance was stable.
And despite the almost 70-foot drop just inches in front of him, Spieth connected cleanly with the ball, quickly moving himself back from the edge of the cliff as soon as he’d made contact.
‘Awfully close’
Perhaps understandably Spieth was still talking about that cliffhanger moment after he’d finished his round.
“It was by far the most nerve-wracking shot I’ve ever hit. Like Michael (Greller) said afterwards: ‘I should have grabbed the ball and thrown it in the water’ because he was trying to get me not to hit it. I was like: ‘Michael, please don’t walk up there’ because then he would’ve seen definitely not to hit it.
“It was awfully close. I’ve never had a life and death situation on a shot before. So I thought I wouldn’t really have nerves the rest of the day after that one.”
Remarkably, Spieth was able to salvage a par from the hole, with the perilous shot landing just over the green. From there, he was able to chip onto the green and roll home a 10-foot par for par.
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