Lowry earns last spot in Accenture Match Play by slimmest of margins

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Shane Lowry got into the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship by the slimmest of margins, all because of a birdie putt thousands of miles away from his home in Ireland.

Patrick Reed holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole Sunday at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for a two-way tie for seventh with Fredrik Jacobson. That meant Jacobson moved up only to No. 66 by 0.0002 points behind Lowry.

Sunday was the final day to qualify for the 64-man field on Feb. 20-24 in Arizona. The top 65 are eligible because Phil Mickelson has said he would not be playing.

Richard Sterne qualified earlier Sunday by winning the Joburg Open in South Africa, going from No. 94 to No. 55.

Lowry, who won the 2009 Irish Open as an amateur and then the 2012 Portugal Masters as a professional, stands to face world No. 1 Rory McIlroy in the first round at Dove Mountain if Mickelson indeed takes the week off and nothing changes over the next week.

The Match Play line-up is based on the rankings to be officially published on Monday, but the tournament draw will not take place for another week.