Canada’s Ben Silverman and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will get their names etched on the Wall of Champions behind the first tee at Pebble Beach, joining a long list that includes golf greats Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.
Justin Rose would love nothing better than to be on an adjacent plaque for winning the PGA Tour event at Pebble.
Rose, whose third round was suspended by wind strong enough to blow his golf ball across the green, returned Sunday morning at Monterey Peninsula by playing 10 holes in 6 under for a 65 that gave him a one-shot lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The final round was to start Sunday afternoon, featuring only professionals, and there was no way the tournament could finish until Monday.
The only champions crowned Sunday were Rodgers and Ben Silverman, who held on for a one-shot victory in the pro-am portion of the event. The prize is their name listed on the wall, which features pro-am winners, tournament winners, USGA champions at Pebble and more.
“It’s really significant,” Rodgers said, whose Packers failed to reach the NFL playoffs for only the fourth time in his 15 years as the starter. “It’s always been on my bucket list.”
Rodgers did his share of heavy lifting. Silverman, coming off a Korn Ferry Tour win, finished at 1-over 216 and missed the cut. Rodgers, playing off a 10 handicap, said he had not played golf since training camp until last Monday.
“He’s an athlete, man. Top performer,” noted Silverman. “He knows how to get it done and that’s what he did. It wasn’t like all four days or three rounds of beautiful golf, but when he needed to — when I was making doubles he was making pars. He knew how to get it done.”
They finished at 26-under par, one shot ahead of Peter Malnati and Don Colleran, the retired president and CEO of FedEx whose name already is on the wall.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Keith Mitchell were four behind. Minus the weather, the leading 25 pro-am teams would have played Sunday afternoon.
“Josh Allen was telling me there’s going to be an asterisk by this win because there was only three rounds,” Rodgers said. “But I think our names are going to be up there for a long time.”
Rose was simply happy to be there. This is his first 54-hole lead since he won at Torrey Pines four years ago, though his form has been trending upward toward the end of last year and early into 2023.
He was at 12-under 203.
Eight players were within three shots of the lead, a list that included Viktor Hovland. He’s playing the tournament for the first time, but his last two trips to Pebble have worked out well. He won the U.S. Amateur in 2018 and was low amateur in the 2019 U.S. Open.
Taylor Pendrith, the leader in the clubhouse (-12), made a 46-foot, 8-inch birdie putt on No. 8, the third-longest made putt of his PGA TOUR career; his second-longest came two weeks ago at The American Express.
Pendrith is the first player since 2013 to post a 64 or better in the final round of the event.
“Yeah. I mean, I would say I’m most proud of I hung in there today,” said Pendrith. “Obviously the front nine most of the holes are downwind, so I got off to a great start. Putter was super hot. Made some nice ones early. Kind of kept the momentum going on the back nine. There was some holes that played really tough and I hit some really quality shots that were into the wind, managed to make the putts.”