PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Ted Potter Jr. outplayed the world’s No. 1 player and held off everyone else Sunday to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National for his first victory since a broken ankle nearly ended his career.

Potter holed a chip from behind the green for birdie on the par-3 seventh hole to build a two-shot lead over Dustin Johnson, and no one got any closer the rest of the way. He finished with 11 straight pars for a 3-under 69 and a three-shot victory over Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Jason Day and Chez Reavie.

Potter was unflappable playing alongside Johnson, who next week completes one full year at No. 1 in the world. That changed when Potter tapped in for par on the 18th hole, and he choked back emotion from a week he won’t soon forget.

He stepped off a curb in Canada in August 2014 and broke his ankle, keeping him out of golf for two years and then sending him back to the minor leagues a year ago. Potter’s only other victory was at the Greenbrier Classic in 2012. He has missed the cut in 55 percent of his PGA Tour events.

And then he didn’t flinch next to Johnson, with Mickelson making a late charge and Day never too far behind.

“It’s been a struggle,” he said. “You break your ankle and you don’t know what’s going to happen with your swing, with your career. It’s unbelievable right now. … This has been a blast this week.”

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Potter, who was ranked No. 246 in the world, earns a trip to the Masters for the first time in five years. He finished at 17-under 270 and earned $1,332,000, nearly half of his career earnings going into the week.

It was another disappointment for Johnson, who led briefly when Potter three-putted for bogey on the opening hole. That didn’t last long, and the tone of the final round was set along the ocean holes on the front nine.

Johnson lost a good birdie chance when his flip wedge found a bunker on No. 4. He hit his worst shot of the week on the tee at No. 5, which sailed right and over the cliff and forced him to make a good up-and-down to escape with bogey.

Both were just over the back of the seventh green. Johnson played a low chip and grazed the cup. Potter played a more lofted shot that dropped for birdie. Johnson went over the eighth green and into the bunker, leading to another bogey, and he never got any closer.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Mark Calcavecchia took advantage of Bernhard Langer’s messy finish to complete a wire-to-wire victory in the Boca Raton Championship in Florida.

Calcavecchia made a 20-foot bogey save on the par-3 16th and parred the final two holes for a 2-under 70 and a two-stroke victory over Langer.

Langer also shot 70. Tied for the lead after Calcavecchia’s bogey on 16, Langer fell back on the par-4 17th when he left a 4-foot par putt to the right. The German star also bogeyed the par-5 18th, driving to the right into pine straw and wood chips and finding two bunkers before reaching the green.

Calcavecchia, 57, finished at 16-under 200.


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