American Ted Potter Jr won his second PGA Tour title with a three-shot victory in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The 34-year-old from Florida – who won his previous title at the 2012 Greenbrier Classic during his first season on the PGA Tour – bagged four birdies in a six-hole stretch on the front nine to pull himself clear of the pack, enabling him to par the last 11 holes for 69 and 17 under par winning total.
Phil Mickelson birdied three of the last final holes at Pebble Beach Golf Links to continue his revival by finishing joint second with Chez Reavie, Jason Day and joint third round leader Dustin Johnson, who birdied the last to also finish on 14 under.
Potter made a nervous start, with a three-putt bogey from inside 25 feet on the opening hole, but birdies on the second, fourth, sixth and seventh saw him pull away from the field. The left-hander played on the Web.com Tour last year to regain his PGA Tour card after time out with a broken ankle.
Potter, who won just over $207,000 last year, picked up more than $1m for his victory. He started the tournament ranked world No.246th.
Paul Casey recorded a third successive 70 to finish joint eighth, while Scotland’s Russell Knox also carded 70 to close on nine under. Rory McIlroy, playing his first tournament of the season in the States, missed the 54-hole cut by two shots, after shooting rounds of 68, 74 and 72.
“I hit some good shots and just needed a few putts to fall,” said McIlroy. “With these greens, if you start to get a bit tentative with them then it gets away from you, and it was hard to get out of that mindset.”