Jimmy Walker squandered most of a six-stroke lead, but holed a five-foot par putt on the final hole to beat Dustin Johnson and Jim Renner by one shot to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, his third victory of the season.
Walker, the runaway FedEx Cup points leader at the moment, seemed to be in control through the front nine, but carded four bogeys coming home to close with a 2-over-par 74 that was barely enough.
“It’s just drama, good TV,” joked the 35-year-old Walker, who had never won on the PGA Tour before claiming the Frys.com Open to start the 2013-14 season in October and capturing the Sony Open in Hawaii last month. “This is too much for me. It was just tough, it really was. I was still hitting it good (on the back nine), it was just touch stuff. It was nice to make that last one.
“I’ve been working so hard, it’s just cool to see all this stuff happen. It’s just awesome.”
Johnson, who won at Pebble Beach in 2009 and 2010, applied the pressure by closing with a 66, including birdies on three of the last four holes, while Renner shot 67 in a bid for his first victory on the PGA Tour.
Jordan Spieth bounced back from a 78 in round three with a 67 and tied for fourth, three shots back, with Kevin Na, who had a 69, while Hunter Mahan finished sixth after a 72.
Graeme McDowell, who won the U.S. Open in 2010 at Pebble, finished with a 67 to tie for seventh, while four-time AT&T Pebble Beach winner Phil Mickelson struggled to a 74 and tied for 19th.
