Pebble Beach Improves 8th Hole's Safety After Jordan Spieth's Dangerous Pro-Am Shot

Fans will no longer be able to reenact Jordan Spieth's famous shot on the eighth hole at Pebble Beach.

Gary Young, the PGA Tour's chief referee for this week, told ESPN's Paolo Uggetti that a Pebble Beach representative informed the Tour that they had to remove the red hazard line and ensure there was enough rough grass to prevent balls from landing in the area where Spieth hit a shot over a cliff in last year's Pro-Am.

"We painted the line where we traditionally have it," Young said about the PGA's new setup at Pebble Beach this week. "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."

The shot occurred during the third round of the 2022 Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Spieth's tee shot landed on the rough just before the edge of a cliff. Rather than take a penalty and set himself up with a better shot, he decided to hit out of the rough.

Spieth seemed to recognize how dangerous the shot was because as soon as his iron made contact with the ball, he immediately jumped back to avoid potentially falling forward.

"Does the reward outweigh the risk? Not if you think the risk was dying," Spieth told reporters this week while reflecting on the shot. "But 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 able to save par with the shot and finished second in the tournament, two shots behind Tom Hoge. But if he lost his footing or fell slightly forward, the outcome could have been incredibly scary.

Young told Uggetti the course isn't going to have any signage that dissuades players from trying to take the same shot as Spieth, but the thickness of the rough around the area will prevent balls from getting that close to the edge.

The 2023 Pebble Beach Pro-Am begins on Thursday from Pebble Beach, California.