South Korea’s Sangmoon Bae shot a closing 2-under 70 to finish T15 on 9-under 278, eight shots behind AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am winner Ted Potter Jr yesterday.
It was Bae’s best finish yet in the 2017-18 PGA TOUR Season since returning to action last fall following a two-year mandatory military service and snapped a run of six consecutive missed cuts prior to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Bae, a two-time PGA TOUR winner, made birdies on two, six, seven and 13, all from inside of nine feet, and dropped bogeys on five and nine. Bae picked up 51 FedExCup points to move up to 152nd position in the latest standings.
Countryman K.J. Choi shot a level par 72 to finish T26 on 280, his round highlighted by three birdies against three bogeys. He chipped in for birdie on 16 from off the green.
China’s Xinjun Zhang closed out his tournament with a 73 to finish T43 while 21-year-old Zecheng Dou shot a 72 to settle for T55 position, the first time he has played in all four rounds in a regular TOUR event. Dou made two birdies, one eagle and four bogeys.
Meanwhile, Potter, after a career-low third-round 62, shot a 69 in the final round to claim the title by three strokes over Phil Mickelson, Chez Reavie, Jason Day and Dustin Johnson.
Potter earns his second PGA TOUR victory in his 84th start at the age of 34 years, 3 months, 2 days. With the win, Potter collects 500 FedExCup points and moves from No. 117 to No. 15 in the FedExCup.
Potter made 24 birdies on the week, setting a personal best for most birdies in an event on the PGA TOUR. The 24 birdies were the most by anyone in the field.
The last left-handed player to win on TOUR prior to Potter was Brian Harman at the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship. Phil Mickelson, a four-time winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, is the only other left-handed winner in the history of the event.
Potter made his fourth start in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this week, and first since 2014 (MC). He missed the cut in 2012 and finished T16 in 2013. En route to that T16 finish in 2013, Potter was T1 through 36 holes.
In his most recent start on the PGA TOUR before this week, Potter opened the Farmers Insurance Open with a 6-under 66 to sit one shot off the lead. Ensuing rounds of 75, 74, 82 resulted in a T73 finish.
Potter, winner of the 2012 The Greenbrier Classic, made a return to the PGA TOUR this season by virtue of his 10th-place finish on the 2017 Web.com Tour priority list. On that Tour last year, he collected two runner-up showings and 15 made cuts in 22 starts. Potter sustained an ankle injury in July of 2014 that required surgery and he missed the remainder of the 2013-14 season.
This was Potter’s ninth start of the 2017-18 PGA TOUR Season, with a T13 at The RSM Classic his best showing. This week marks his fourth made cut of the season.
Final-Round Leaderboard
Ted Potter, Jr. 68-71-62-69 – 270 (-17)
Phil Mickelson 69-65-72-67 – 273 (-14)
Chez Reavie 67-72-66-68 – 273 (-14)
Jason Day 69-65-69-70 – 273 (-14)
Dustin Johnson 67-64-70-72 – 273 (-14)
Asian players scores
Sangmoon Bae 71-69-68-70 – 278 (-9)
K.J. Choi 69-70-69-72 – 280 (-7)
Xinjun Zhang 68-72-69-73 – 282 (-5)
Zecheng Dou 67-74-71-72 – 284 (-3)
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