When it comes to memorable moments on Pebble Beach’s par-4 fourth hole, arguably none is more remarkable than Viktor Hovland’s up-and-down birdie from the side of the cliff en route to winning the 2018 U.S. Amateur.
Hovland was playing Devon Bling in the morning portion of the scheduled 36-hole final when he pushed his drive right. Opting to climb down the embankment, Hovland located his ball sitting up on an ice plant, and after having his caddie, Oklahoma State head coach Alan Bratton, toss him his 60-degree wedge, the Norwegian planted his spikes into the cliffside and took a mighty whack, his ball sailing up and onto the green before settling inside of 3 feet. Hovland, who tallied six birdies in seven rounds on the hole that week, took a 1-up lead over Bling and never looked back, ultimately winning, 6 and 5.
Seven years later, Cam Davis did his best to challenge Hovland.
While Davis didn’t go traversing the steep terrain on Sunday during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he did pull off a birdie that likely won’t be recreated for a long time, maybe ever. After finding the left rough at the 337-yard hole, Davis had 60 yards left to the hole and wedged his ball just left of the front hole location.
However, Justin Rose’s ball was already occupying those couple inches of real estate.
The balls of Davis and Rose, upon contact, shot in opposite directions. Rose was obviously able to replace his ball to its original spot, but Davis now had to chip from the left rough, about 20 feet away and with the green running away from him. No problem.
Davis holed the chip for his first birdie of the day.
