By Ron Green Jr. of Global Golf Post

Take the No. 1-ranked player in the world, a guy who has won twice already at Pebble Beach, and he’s playing head to head against a left-handed guy ranked 246th in the world and it’s easy to figure out what happens.

Until it doesn’t.

Ted Potter Jr.’s three-stroke victory at Pebble Beach generously may be called unlikely. His only previous PGA Tour victory came six years ago against a largely starless field at the Greenbrier Classic. Two years later, he broke an ankle that required multiple surgeries and basically disappeared.

Until he didn’t.

Potter, who shot 62 Saturday at Monterrey Peninsula Country Club, was the steadiest player among the Sunday contenders, despite a three-putt bogey at the first hole that suggested incorrectly that nerves might be an issue for him in the final round. Four birdies in a six-hole stretch followed, putting him far enough ahead to win without making another birdie on the final 11 holes.

“It’s definitely pleasing,” Potter said. “You break your ankle (and) you don’t know what can happen in your career. To come back from that, it’s just incredible.”

As the conditions got more difficult later in the day, no player seriously pushed Potter. Mickelson made three late birdies but couldn’t muster any 18th hole magic, though he still managed to finish T2 with Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and the suddenly hot Chez Reavie.

Johnson, who shared the 54-hole lead with Potter, never looked comfortable on Sunday. He missed the fourth green with a short wedge shot, then hit his iron shot at the par-3 fifth into a hazard, leading to a bogey. Two more bogeys at Nos. 8 and 11 effectively ended Johnson’s chance of winning.

In the pro-am competition, Kevin Streelman and Arizona Cardinals football star Larry Fitzgerald won by seven strokes.

Driver: Ping G400 (9 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 65 grams 6.0-flex (46 inches)
Swing Weight: D2

Fairway Wood: Ping G400 (14.5 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75 grams 6.0-flex (43 inches)

Hybrids: Ping G400 (19 degrees @17.5 degrees, 22 degrees @21 degrees)
Shafts: Project X Even Flow Black 100H 6.5-flex (41.25 inches, 40.75 inches)
Swing Weight: D2+

Irons: Ping iBlade (4-9 iron)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT X100
Swing weight: D4

Wedges: Ping Glide 2.0 (46-SS), Cleveland RTX-3 (54 and 60 degrees)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT X100 (46 degrees), True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 (54 and 60 degrees)

Putter: Odyssey White Hot No. 2 (center-shafted)

Golf Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV

Republished with permission from Global Golf Post.