Potter resurrects career with win
Ted Potter Jr. outplayed the world’s No. 1 player and held off everyone else to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National for his first victory since a broken ankle nearly ended his career.
Potter holed a chip from behind the green for birdie on the par-3 seventh hole to build a two-shot lead over Dustin Johnson, and no one got any closer the rest of the way. He finished with 11 consecutive pars for a 3-under 69 and a three-stroke victory over Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Jason Day and Chez Reavie.
Potter, 34, was unflappable playing alongside Johnson, who shot 72 and next week completes one full year at No. 1 in the world. That changed when he tapped in for par on the 18th hole, and he choked back emotion of a week he won’t soon forget.
He stepped off a curb in Canada in August 2014 and broke his ankle, keeping him out of golf for two years and then sending him back to the minor leagues a year ago. Potter’s only other victory was at The Greenbrier Classic in 2012. He has missed the cut in 55 percent of his PGA Tour events in his career.
Potter, who came into the week at No. 246 in the world, earns a trip back to the Masters for the first time in five years. He finished at 17-under 270 and earned $1,332,000 — nearly half of his career earnings going into the week. Potter now has a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, along with getting spots in the Masters and PGA Championship. In other news: • Mark Calcavecchia took advantage of Bernhard Langer’s messy finish to complete a wire-to-wire victory in the Boca Raton Championship. Calcavecchia had a 20-foot bogey save on the par-3 16th and parred the final two holes for a 2-under 70 and a two-stroke victory over Langer on The Old Course at Broken Sound in Boca Raton, Fla. Langer bogeyed the final two holes for a 70. Calcavecchia finished at 16-under 200.