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Ted Potter Jr wins at Greenbrier - Source: Getty Images -
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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 today.
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 14 metres.
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 1.5m after Kelly had rolled in a six metres to save par.
The two journeymen, who've 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).
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 and 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.
For much of Sunday afternoon, the tournament appeared to come down to a head-to-head between world No. 5 Simpson and 464th-ranked Kelly, as they dueled for the title in the final pairing. Kelly made a fast start with birdies at the second and fourth, where he hit a superb approach to one metre, putting him in a tie for the lead with Simpson at 14 under.
He then birdied the par-four fifth to move one stroke clear of his playing partner, who safely parred the first five holes. Simpson regained a share of the lead when he sank from 1.2m to birdie the seventh, before Kelly fell back with a bogey on nine after finding the left rough off the tee and missing the green with his approach.
Kelly again moved into a tie at the top with a birdie at the 11th, where he knocked in a one-metre putt, before Simpson began his slide backwards with bogeys at the 12th, where he three-putted, and at the 13th.
Kelly briefly moved two ahead of the pack after sinking an 3.3m putt to birdie the 14th, before Potter took the tournament into a playoff with his barnstorming finish.
While Kelly was bitterly disappointed to miss out on a maiden PGA Tour title, he was able to celebrate a spot at this month's British Open, via a six-tournament money list that ended today.
"I had a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to getting in this kind of position some more," said the 33-year-old, who join Potter and Australia's Marc Leishman at Royal Lytham.
"When you're coming down the stretch, you've got to look back on things that you've had success in and just believe in yourself to hit those shots again," added Kelly, who turned professional in 2003.