Potter holds nerves in Greenbrier Classic

White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia: PGA Tour rookie Ted Potter Jr. won his first title on the US circuit with a nerve-jangling playoff victory over fellow American Troy Kelly at the Greenbrier Classic in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia on Sunday. As the late afternoon shadows lengthened on the Old White TPC Course, Potter sealed the win with a four-foot birdie putt at the third extra hole, the par-three 18th, after Kelly missed his attempt from 45 feet. Left-hander Potter had a golden opportunity to wrap up victory one hole earlier, at the par-five 17th, but he lipped out with a birdie putt from five feet after Kelly had rolled in a 20-footer to save par. The two journeymen, who have played most of their golf on the ‘mini’ tours, finished the regulation 72 holes on 16-under-par 264, Kelly closing with a four-under 66 and Potter storming home birdie-par-eagle-birdie for a 64.“This was just a big relief after all the struggles the last few weeks, knowing that now I’ve got a couple of years to try to improve on my game and win some more tournaments,” Potter said after becoming the sixth first-time winner on the 2012 PGA Tour. The 28-year-old, who earned his PGA Tour card by finishing second on the 2011 Nationwide Tour money list, had missed the cut in his five previous events. “When you’re missing cuts every week, you get down on yourself,” said Potter, ranked 218th in the world. “But the plus side for me is I was still young. I just knew I had plenty of time, just be patient and it will come back around again.” South Korean Charlie Wi eagled the 17th on the way to a 65 to share third place at 14 under with PGA Tour rookie Charlie Beljan (67). Tumbled backwards US Open champion Webb Simpson, two strokes ahead overnight in pursuit of a fourth PGA Tour title, tumbled backwards with three consecutive bogeys from the 12th to finish with a 73 in a five-way tie for seventh. “It was just one of those unfortunate nine holes where all week everything had been going right and in nine holes everything couldn’t have gone worse,” Simpson said of his nightmare closing stretch. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Choi Na-yeon survived a tumultuous four-hole stretch after the turn to win her first major title by four shots at the U.S. Women’s Open in Kohler, Wisconsin on Sunday. A commanding six strokes ahead of the chasing pack overnight, Choi triple-bogeyed the 10th and did well to salvage pars at the 12th and 13th before regaining momentum to close with a one-over-par 73 at Blackwolf Run. The 24-year-old birdied the 15th and 16th in dazzling sunshine and shrugged off a bogey at the last for a seven-under total of 281, finishing four ahead of her fellow Korean and playing partner Amy Yang (71). World number five Choi embraced her caddie in delight before being showered in champagne by her compatriots after becoming the sixth Korean to win the US Women’s Open, and the fifth in the last eight years. After being presented with the champion’s medal and the glittering US Women’s Open trophy, Choi was asked greenside how she had recovered from her triple-bogey at the 10th. “I tried to forget it from there,” she replied with a smile. “And then I had a really good (birdie) bounceback on 11. “I also had a really good save for par on 12 so I got some momentum from 11 and 12 and that’s how I kept it going until the 18th hole.” With her U.S. Women’s Open triumph, Choi emulated fellow Koreans Pak Se-ri (at Blackwolf Run in 1998), Birdie Kim (2005), Park In-bee (2008), Ji Eun-hee (2009) and Ryu So-yeon (2011). from gulfnews.com