Kevin Hart shoots 77-49 at Valencia with Grant Horvat as his caddie

Kevin Hart went out at Valencia Country Club in Santa Clarita, California, with Grant Horvat carrying his bag and one goal: break 100. He did not get there, but the video posted Oct. 20 on the Kevin Hart Golfs YouTube channel ends with Hart calling his back nine the best nine holes he has played.

The setup

Hart says in the opening that Horvat beat him badly in a video they filmed for Horvat's channel, then offered to caddie for him on Hart's channel. Horvat had three rules. Hart had to do what Horvat told him, he owed $50 for every curse word, and the swear-jar money would go toward a giveaway for subscribers. Hart's friends bet against him breaking 100 and added prop bets for each nine.

The scorecard

The front nine went badly. The Golf GameBook app the group used to track the round showed a 77 on the front, and Horvat pointed out that Hart had not hit a single green in regulation and had taken a lot of putts. At the turn, Horvat did the math and said Hart would need about 23 on the back to break 100, so the group switched to a new bet that Hart would finish under 142, plus a bet that he would shoot 65 or better on the back.

Hart came back with a 49. Horvat called it a comeback from a 77 to a 49 and said that at one point on the front he "couldn't believe what I was watching." The two nines add up to 126. Hart said on camera that he did not know his total yet, and that by his count he won the back-nine bets.

What changed

Most of Horvat's coaching on the back nine came back to one instruction: aim the body left and play a little fade. Hart said afterward that the simple approach, playing the cut and repeating the same swing instead of trying to fix it shot by shot, is what helped. He said he was counting it as his best nine holes ever because of how hard the course is.

The swear-jar total was not announced. Hart said he would pay it and that viewers who comment on the video can be entered for a prize.

For sim golfers

The full round runs 1 hour, 33 minutes. The useful part for anyone practicing indoors is Horvat's back-nine plan. On your simulator, pick one shot shape, set your alignment to start it left of target, and hit it on every full swing for a session. Track greens in regulation and putts the way Hart's app did, and see whether the one-shape approach moves those numbers.