With win, Matsuyama on short list of PGA favorites

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Ted Potter Jr. has won so many golf tournaments since turning pro that he’s unsure of the official total. His longtime friend and caddie has lost track, too. “I don’t have enough fingers and toes for that. It’s a lot,� John Balmer said while waiting outside the scoring trailer Sunday afternoon. “If I had to put the over/under at 60, I’d probably say above 60.� An hour later, when pressed for a number, Potter tried to itemize his resume. “On the Moonlight Tour, probably 60 one-day events,� he said, searching hard in his memory bank. “On the Hooters Tour, the four-day ones, I think I got 7. The three-day ones, I got 6 or 7.� For sure, he won twice on the Web.com Tour. Then there’s his first PGA TOUR win in 2012 at The Greenbrier Classic. No matter how those numbers add up, the latest, biggest and perhaps most surprising win of his career came Sunday at one of golf’s most iconic courses, when he stared down world No. 1 Dustin Johnson and a host of other more recognizable names to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by three strokes. In retrospect, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that it was Potter chatting up Clint Eastwood on the 18th green, and then later trying to hold off the tears while trying to put Sunday’s performance in perspective. Ted Potter Jr. has been a winner at every level. There’s no denying that. It’s just that most of those levels are below the consciousness of the average golf fan – mini-tour events held without publicity or nightly highlights on SportsCenter. Some may call Potter a journeyman, but it’s a journey filled with a lot of success. All that success seemed to pay dividends at Pebble Beach. He didn’t flinch in the pressure-packed environment of the final group on Sunday. He wasn’t intimidated by Johnson, who counts two of his 17 career wins at Pebble Beach and outdrove Potter by upwards of 50 yards on some tee shots. He didn’t let an opening bogey shake him up, as he bounced back with birdies on four of his next six holes. And he delivered the biggest blow, a chip-in at the 7th hole after Johnson ran his chip from the same spot 5-1/2 feet past the pin. He then followed with 11 consecutive pars, waiting to see if anybody could offer up a challenge and make him sweat. No one did. It was the kind of performance that only winners know how to deliver. “Definitely it helps to draw back from past experience coming down the stretch,� Potter said. “It doesn’t matter what kind of tournament really it is. … I think I know how to control myself and the nerves.� Added Balmer: “You cannot replace someone who’s won. It’s so much easier to do it again once you’ve done it. If you’ve never done it, it’s hard to get to that level. “It’s kind of like holding your breath. If you’ve got to hold it for 10 seconds, you don’t practice for 5 or 4 seconds. You go as deep as you can. For Ted, he’s won at every level – won as a junior, won in high school won on the mini-tours – he didn’t go to college, but he’s won at every conceivable level.� Yes, but this is the PGA TOUR, the hardest level to win at, filled with the world’s best golfers. Several of those were in the mix Sunday – besides No. 1 Johnson, there was No. 2 Jon Rahm, who threatened earlier before doing a deep dive (otherwise known as a back-nine 42) into nearby Stillwater Cove; No. 8 Jason Day, who was charging fast until he found the beach with his second shot at 18; and No. 35 Phil Mickelson, a four-time winner who shot a terrific 67 on Sunday after shooting himself in the foot a day earlier with his even-par 72. Potter, meanwhile, put himself in contention with a Saturday 62 at Monterey Peninsula in which he flirted with 59. On Sunday, he proved it wasn’t a fluke, even if others may have thought so. “I’m sure everybody knew probably going into this tournament Dustin’s probably going to win the golf tournament,� the 34-year-old Potter said. “So I knew I’m the underdog there. What do I got to lose, really? Just go out there and try to play the best golf I could today and see what happens. Why put more pressure on myself to say I’m playing against the world No. 1?� In between all that winning, though, Potter has experienced his share of disappointments. Turning pro right out of high school in Florida in 2002, he made the Web.com Tour in 2004 – and promptly missed the cut in each of his 24 starts. Back on the Web.com Tour in 2007, he missed the cut 17 times out of 20 starts. Another year on the Web.com Tour in 2010 – missed cuts in 8 of 11 starts. But with TOUR status in 2012, he won The Greenbrier Classic in a playoff against Troy Kelly (by the way, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were in that field) before simply wearing down. He played too much – “Ted’s a three-week kind of guy,� noted Balmer – and made the cut in just half his starts the next year. Then he suffered an ankle injury in the summer of 2014 when he slipped off a curb while wearing flip-flops and rolled his ankle to the point that it required surgery. It cost him nearly two years of his career and it still affects him at times, although – he insists – not inside the ropes. Potter’s been on a strange journey, a rollercoaster one to be sure. He’s still seeking consistency, still wants to put himself in contention more often. A little fitness wouldn’t hurt either, said his caddie. “We just gotta get him in the gym now,� Balmer said with a smile. “Get him to do a few situps.� For now, he’ll settle for being the latest left-handed golfer to win at Pebble Beach. Mickelson and Potter, in fact, are both natural right-handers. If golf fans had to choose which one would win this week, would Potter have received a single vote? Would anybody have known he was even in the field? Even Mickelson said he’s never played with Potter but added: “I think Pebble Beach and Augusta are left-handed golf courses. I think that’s obvious.� Augusta, huh? Potter’s got an invite now. Maybe we’ve learned this week not to bet against him.

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PARAMUS, N.J. – Bryson DeChambeau takes a four-shot lead into the final round, then keeps his nerve for a 2-under 69 and a four-shot victory at THE NORTHERN TRUST at Ridgewood Country Club. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where DeChambeau picked up his third PGA TOUR victory and second this season, this one kicking him into first in the FedExCup. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Seeing is believing for DeChambeau. Bryson DeChambeau sat down before the press, the tournament and FedExCup trophies in front of him, and was asked what he likes most about his work. “It’s being able to step up to a shot like I did on 17 today, knowing it’s a difficult tee shot, and executing it exactly the way I wanted to,â€� said DeChambeau, who was T27 in driving accuracy. “That’s what brings me joy and that’s why I work so hard, and all this other stuff is fantastic and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but the No. 1 thing that makes me happy is seeing a golf ball go exactly the way I felt it should go.â€� DeChambeau is a true original, but his work habits are reminiscent of Vijay Singh. What did DeChambeau do after his third-round 63 had staked him to a four-shot lead on Saturday night? The same thing he always does: He hit balls, closing down the range. Told that some guys wouldn’t have camped out for so long after such a round, he was quick with a response. “Well, it’s not a 54—it’s not birdieing every hole,â€� he said. He and his caddie have an inside joke that they repeat to one another when they find themselves logging the long hours on the range or practice green: Just another day at the office. “You could say what I do is crazy,â€� DeChambeau said, “but in the end, I’m the one with the trophy this week.â€� 2. Finau is a phenomenon. Hard to believe Tony Finau doesn’t have a win this year, given his consistency. The long-hitting Utah pro finished second to move from 12th to 4th in the FedExCup, the highest position among players without a win this season. He has nine top-10 finishes and 16 top-25 finishes in 25 starts so far this season. How’s that for week-in, week-out excellence? Finau played three of the four days alongside Phil Mickelson, and more than held his own as he collected his third runner-up finish on TOUR. If he can remain in the top five in the FedExCup going into the TOUR Championship, he will control his own destiny. “Yeah, great position to be in and that’s where I want to be,â€� said Finau, who qualified for his first TOUR Championship last season, when he ultimately finished 19th in the FedExCup. “When I do win, hopefully it means a lot and maybe even a FedExCup. … Bryson was extremely tough to catch. He didn’t really open a window for us.â€� 3. FedExCup movers were everywhere. Give credit to Danny Lee, who entered the week at 103rd in the FedExCup standings but birdied five straight holes (Nos. 10-14) on the way to a 4-under 67 that gave him a T34 finish and gave him just the boost he needed to 98th. That means he’s on to the next stop in the Playoffs, the top-100 Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston, starting Friday. It was a similar story for Nick Watney, who was making his 350th TOUR start and finished T11 to move from 102nd to 67th in the standings and on to Boston. The biggest leap was by Ryan Palmer, who was the Bubble Boy at No. 100 in the standings but carded a timely 65 in the final round to finish T5 and move up to 50th in the standings. That should get him not only to Boston but all the way to the BMW Championship in Philadelphia. “It’s huge,â€� Palmer said. 4. Woods not discouraged. Tiger Woods was coming off a runner-up finish at the PGA Championship two weeks prior, so his T40 at THE NORTHERN TRUST was slightly underwhelming. He never really made much happen at Ridgewood, where his putter remained cold all week, but now he heads to TPC Boston and the site of his win in 2006 and runner-up finishes in ’04 and ’07. “Well, welcome to golf,â€� Woods said of his suddenly dry birdie well. “I’m sure you guys are used to seeing me win five times a year or more. It’s not that easy to win out here. That’s what you’re seeing is that I’m close and just one shot here, one shot there, per day, flips momentum. “That’s what either I had been missing or I had gotten and I would lose it,â€� he added. “It’s just looking for one shot a day here and there, and you just never know when that shot may come, early in the front nine, late in the back nine, but it’s not that far.â€� 5. Mickelson taking nothing for granted. New York favorite Phil Mickelson (71, T15) got off to a good start at THE NORTHERN TRUST, his pair of 68s getting him at least within shouting distance of the lead. Alas, a third 68 didn’t do him much good, though, as DeChambeau began to run away, and Mickelson, 48, struggled in hitting just 5 of 14 fairways during an even-par final round Sunday. Now he heads to TPC Boston, where he won in 2007, for the Dell Technologies Championship. “I’m going to go down to Boston and build on that and get myself in contention,â€� he said. “I’ve played well there, I’ve won there, and my game’s comin’ around, and I’m gonna put it together.â€� Mickelson is 10th in the FedExCup, and while he’s won in Boston, and at East Lake, he’s never won the whole thing. Also on his mind: He has played on every Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup team since 1994, and is hoping to keep that streak going at the Ryder Cup in the fall. “I’m still fighting hard to get on that team,â€� he said. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. DeChambeau came into the week T67 in Strokes Gained: Putting, but was fifth in that statistic at Ridgewood; T116 in one-putt percentage, but was T12 at Ridgewood; T93 at putting inside 10 feet, but was T1 at Ridgewood; and 145th at putting from 4-8 feet, but was fifth at Ridgewood. All told, he made 65 of 68 putts from inside 10 feet. 2. Finau (68, solo second), the winner of the 2016 Puerto Rico Open led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (+12.562) and Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (+7.8) in collecting the third runner-up finish of his career (2017 Safeway Open, 2018 Genesis Open). 3. Billy Horschel (68, T3) played his final 46 holes without a bogey and led the field in scrambling (14 of 17). He moves to 14th in the FedExCup as he tries to join Woods as the only player to win the FedExCup more than once. 4. Cameron Smith (69, T3) notched his fifth top-five finish this season and moved from 53rd all the way to 16th in the FedExCup. He had shot under par only four times in his last 20 rounds coming into THE NORTHERN TRUST, but shot in red numbers all four rounds at Ridgewood. 5. Adam Scott (69, T5), who came into the field outside the top 150 in Strokes Gained: Putting, led the field (+8.464) in that stat at Ridgewood. He made nearly 368 feet of putts, and all told it was his best performance on the greens since winning the 2004 Booz Allen Classic.

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