Potter gets first PGA Tour win
BY Associated Press
Monday, July 09, 2012
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Rookie Ted
Potter Jr. made a 4-foot birdie
putt on the third hole of a playoff
with Troy Kelly to win the
Greenbrier Classic
for his first PGA
Tour victory.
Ranked 218th in
the world, Potter overcame a
four-stroke deficit with four
holes to play, finishing with his
second straight 6-under 64 to
match Kelly at 16-under. Kelly
closed with a 66 at Old White
TPC.
The 28-year-old left-hander
became the sixth first-time
winner on the tour this season.
Both made par on the first
two playoff holes, with Potter
missing a 5-footer at No. 17 that
would have won it. Moments
before, Kelly made a 22-footer
for par after finding trouble
from the greenside bunker.
Playing the par-3 18th for the
third time on the day, Kelly’s
tee shot was short of a steep
ridge in the middle of the
green, while Potter sent his
9-iron onto the top of the ridge
and it trickled close to the pin.
Kelly missed his 45-foot
birdie putt, then watched Potter
close out the win as thunderstorms
moved in.
Webb Simpson lost a onestroke
lead on the back nine at
the tournament for the second
straight year. The U.S. Open
champion made three straight
bogeys, shot 73 and tied for
seventh at 11-under.
Triplett takes his first Champions
title: Kirk Triplett won the First
Tee Open at Pebble Beach for
his first Champions Tour title,
making an early eagle and closing
with a 6-under 66 for a
two-stroke victory.
Triplett, the two-time PGA
Tour winner making his eighth
start on the senior tour after
turning 50 in March, finished
at 10-under 206. He opened
with a 70 at Pebble Beach and
had a 70 at Del Monte on Saturday
to enter the final round
four strokes behind leaders
Tom Kite and Brad Bryant.
Triplett eagled the par-5 second
hole, and chipped in on
the par-4 16th for the last of his
five birdies. Mark McNulty was
second after a 69.
Associated Images:
Ted Potter Jr. defeated Troy Kelly in a playoff to win the Greenbrier Classic for his first career victory Sunday in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. STEVE HELBER / Associated Press
|
