Potter Ties for 18th at Torrey Pines; Closes With $29,386 Putt
Monday, February 1, 2021

    For the first time in eight events during the wrap-around season, Ted Potter will head for the next tournament with 'new' money in his bank account after he deadlocked for 18th place Sunday in the Farmers Insurance Open and collected a check for $80,761

    Ted posted rounds of 71-69-72-71-283, 5 strokes under par over the South and North courses at Torrey Pines, and finished 10 strokes behind controversial winner Patrick Reed. But he was only five behind a group tied for second at 9 under, that group including Tony Finau, Henrik Norlander, Ryan Palmer, Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland. 

    In picking up his first check of the season, Ted moved from off the charts into No. 178 on the PGA Tour money list, while the 39 FedEx points he received moved him onto that list at No. 181. He'll have a chance to improve on those positions this week at the $7.3 million Waste Management Phoenix Open at the TPC Scottsdale, where the defending champ is Webb Simpson.

    The value of every putt was never more evident for Ted than on the final hole Sunday. He arrived at the par-5 18th at 4 under par, tied for 28th, and proceeded to drive it 286 yards to the right fairway. He played his second safe and wound up on the left fairway, 81 yards from the hole. His wedge to the green stopped 6 feet, 2 inches from the hole and he completed a superior putting day by making the birdie.

    To show how important the putt was, the three players who wound up deadlocked for 29th place at 4 under - Louis Oosthuizen, Jason Kokrak and Carlos Ortiz - all earned checks for $51,375. By making his final putt, Ted earned $29,386 more than he would have if he had missed it. 

    The most surprising aspect of Ted's Sunday round was that he was able to shoot 1 under despite the fact that he hit just four of 14 fairways, and 10 of 18 greens. He dumped it into fairway bunkers from off the tee on Nos. 1, 6, 13 and 17; into the right rough on 4, 9 and 10, and the left rough on 2, 7 and 15. But his putting bailed him out, including canning one of 13'5" for par on No. 1; 23'1" for birdie on 2; 5'5" for par on 7; 12'7" for birdie on 8, and 7'9" for birdie on 9. 

    On the back nine, Ted added a putt of 6'10" for par on 14; and the final one of 6'2" on 18.

   Meanwhile, in the final groups, Reed made it a no contest with his five-stroke victory, all the while mired in controversy about the lifting of a ball during Saturday's round. It didn't make a bit of difference and Shakespeare would have labeled it 'much ado about nothing.'  

     

      

    

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