In the past US Opens played at Pebble Beach in ’82, ’92 and ’00 (data for ’72 was unavailable), no player had ever made consecutive birdies on 8, 9 and 10. This changed on Friday when Matt Bettencourt carved out a small stat in the record books when he became the first to achieve this insignificantly impressive feat.
Through 10 holes, Bettencourt had fought his way back to one-under for the tournament, but his streak of luck took a turn for the worse on 12, where he made the first of three consecutive bogeys.
“I wish I would’ve finished a little better coming in,” he said. “I know Poa greens pretty well, but it’s a crap shoot. The greens are so bumpy right now. In Pebble’s defense, there’s nothing they can do. It’s late in the day. I knew there were going to be some issues when I saw my pairings…But, I’m happy to be around on the weekend and playing in my home state. I can’t ask for anything more.”
Despite posting a four-over 40 on the back nine, he still whittled his way into a two-bit piece of history. For what that’s worth.