Potter wins Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Underdog faced down No. 1 Dustin Johnson
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Ted Potter Jr. didn’t know if he’d be able to get a handle on his emotions during Sunday’s pressure-packed final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
He did just fine.
Playing in the last group on a Sunday for the first time since 2011 — and that was on the Web.com Tour — the underdog Potter faced down playing partner and world No. 1 Dustin Johnson to win the biggest event of his career.
Not even a three-putt bogey on the first hole unnerved Potter, nor did the presence and power of Johnson or the star-studded leaderboard chasing him. Looking calm and steady from the first tee forward at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Potter, nearly four years removed from a broken ankle that put his career in jeopardy, signed for a 3-under-par 69 to finish at 17 under and win by three shots.
“I knew everyone thought Dustin was going to win. I was the underdog, what did I have to lose?” said Potter, who added that he drew on the success from his mini-tour days as a key to his composure in the final round. “All I could do was try and grind as hard as I can, and I just hit a lot of quality shots to small targets when I had to on the back nine, when the pressure was on.”
The former mini-tour star, who won
12 times on the Hooters Tour but didn’t cash in 24 starts in his first year on the Web.com Tour in 2004, won $1.322 million and earned playing spots in the Masters, Players Championship, U.S. Open, British Open and next year’s Sentry Tournament of Champions.
He will move up from his world ranking of No. 246 with his second victory on the PGA Tour, his first coming in the
2012 Greenbrier Classic.
Phil Mickelson, trying to win for the fourth time here, closed with three birdies in his last five holes and shot 67 to finish tied for second. “I gave it a shot on the back nine, but it wasn’t enough because Ted played so well,” he said.
Joining Mickelson in second were Chez Reavie (68), who lost in a playoff last week in the Waste Management Phoenix Open; Jason Day (70), who won two weeks ago in the Farmers Insurance Open; and Johnson, who shot 72.
Potter said he is close to 100% healthy after a freak accident in 2014 that kept him from playing until 2016. In the 2014 RBC Canadian Open, wearing flip-flops as he was packing up his car, he slipped off a curb and broke his right ankle. He needed surgeries in 2014 and 2015.
He said his ankle isn’t 100% but it’s good enough to play on the PGA Tour. He played well in Saturday’s third round when he set up his last-round heroics with a career-best 62 at Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore Course. On Sunday, after the three-putt bogey from 25 feet on the first hole, he took control with four birdies in his next six holes, the last coming on a chip-in on the iconic short par-3 seventh hole. That gave him a two-shot lead.
“It’s definitely a big confidence boost. Being away from the game, I hadn’t won since 2012. But after the ankle and everything I’ve gone through playing the Web.com last year to get my card back and to come back this early in the season is just crazy. I’m so happy right now to get it done today, especially against the world No. 1. The win here at Pebble is just unbelievable. It’s beautiful.”