Mark Brooks Wins Record Third Pebble Beach Invitational
Posted by admin on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
PGA Tour veteran Mark Brooks has his own place in Pebble Beach Golf Links history.
Brooks, winner of the 1996 PGA Championship, birdied three of his last four holes Sunday including the 18th en route to a final round 5-under 67 to break away from rising sensation Rickie Fowler and win the 38th annual Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational.
With the win, Brooks, 48, becomes the first player to boast three career Invitational wins. The Texas native, who used to skip school to watch legend Ben Hogan play, also won the event in 1992 and 2002.
“There’s nothing like winning at Pebble Beach,” said Brooks, who finished with a four-day total of 12-under 276 (70-70-69-67) to defeat Fowler and D.A. Points by two strokes. “I always love coming here, and I’ve been coming here for almost 30 years.”
Trailing by one through 14, Brooks tied Fowler with a birdie on No.15. The seven-time tour winner proceeded to birdie No.16 and No.18, sinking a tricky 16-footer on the last hole, to seal the victory.
For the week, Brooks, who was the only player in the field to shoot under par each day, carded only four bogeys.
“I hit a lot of good iron shots and I putted well,” said Brooks, whose best finish on the tour this past season was a tie for 10th at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. “I think I could’ve went bogey-free. A few putts today horseshoed out of the cup.”
Fowler, who was competing at Pebble Beach for the first time in his budding career, finished with a 69 after a three birdie, one bogey day. The 20-year-old former No.1 world ranked amateur took the lead early on with back-to-back birdies at No.6 and No.7.
“He made some great putts down the stretch. There was nothing I could do about it,” said Fowler, who in two weeks will compete in the PGA Tour Q-School Final Stage. “We were going back and forth and he missed some putts. On those last few holes he made up for it.”
While Fowler did his best to try and keep up with Brooks to the end, so too did Points. Points, who was the second round co-leader, shot a day low 65 that included birdies at No.17 and No.18 to climb into a tie for second at 10-under 278.
“I knew coming to 18 that I had to do something. I was trying to stick it close for an eagle. I was thinking that if I could get to 11-under I’d have a chance,” Points said.
Coming in at 280, four strokes behind Brooks, were 2009 PGA Tour rookie Bill Lunde and Champions Tour member Scott Simpson. Lunde, who three years ago worked in an office, shot a final round 66. Simpson, winner of the 2006 First Tee Open and the low Champions Tour representative, had a 68.
Monterey native Mina Harigae, who’ll be a rookie on the 2010 LPGA Tour next year after finishing No.1 on this year’s Futures Tour money list, shot 68 to finish as the low LPGA player at 280.Former Stevenson standout Rob Grube, who competed on the Canadian Tour this past season, came in at 294 after a 71.
Two-time defending champion Tommy Armour III, who made history in 2008 by becoming the Invitational’s first back-to-back champion, shot 73 to finish at 294.
Along with getting his third win, Brooks also pocketed the $60,000 winners check.
Afterwards, Brooks, who predicted that Fowler will be “a phenomenal player”, said that he’ll be back for the 2010 AT&T Pro-Am. He also plans on playing in the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
Fowler also is eyeing trips to the 2010 AT&T Pro-Am and U.S. Open.
“We’ll see how Q-School goes,” Fowler said. “I’d love to come back to Pebble. It’s an awesome place.”
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