AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

Pebble Beach has often been a place for redemption.

Add Steve Lowery to the list of AT&T National Pro-Am champions who found their way back to the winner’s circle after a long absence - in Lowery’s case, 199 tournaments and seven years.

Lowery’s birdie on the first playoff hole sealed the championship on a day of picture-perfect weather. That birdie followed a sterling final-round 68 that featured five birdies on the front nine that catapulted him into a tie with Vijay Singh at the end of regulation.

“I couldn’t play the front nine any better than I did. I made birdie on 1 with a really tough pin placement, and I played some good shots there on 7, 8 and 9 to make birdies. I think that was probably the key of the round, shot 5-under on the front nine with the wind blowing,” Lowery said regarding his front-nine 31.

The champion was helped by the stunning collapse of third-round co-leader Singh. After a Lowery bogey on the par-five 14th hole left Singh three shots up, the three-time major winner proceeded to bogey the next three holes. Lowery’s birdie on 17 gave him a one-shot cushion. Singh’s best shot on the incoming nine was a stiffed 50-yard wedge on the 18th that set up a tie and the first playoff in the AT&T since 1992.

Vijay Singh’s shaky play on the back nine cost him
the championship.

But Lowery was able to capitalize on more sloppy play from Singh as the two competitors played Pebble’s 18th hole a second time, making birdie as Singh hit into two bunkers. The Birmingham, AL native was playing on a medical exception and was given eight tournaments to earn $282,558 to keep his card. The $1.08 million winner’s check made short work of that. The championship also comes with a two-year PGA Tour exemption and an invitation to the Masters in April.

Lowery joins past champions such as Johnny Miller (1994), Peter Jacobsen (1995) who found some form of redemption by winning the AT&T. A year ago, champion Phil Mickelson rejuvenated his career by jump-starting his 2007 season after a tumultuous end to his 2006 campaign. Mickelson missed the cut after a disatrous 11 on Pebble’s 14th hole during the third round.

At age 47, Lowery becomes the oldest AT&T champion in the event’s storied history. The win is the third of his career, all three coming in playoffs.

Third place was shared by another veteran with major-championship pedigree, 48-year-old Corey Pavin, and second-year player John Mallinger of Escondido, who placed in the top five at the AT&T for the second straight year. Mallinger and Pavin finished one shot out of the playoff at 9-under-par.

Final Results

View a photo gallery from first-round action at Poppy Hills.