PEBBLE BEACH - Give him this: Jimmy Walker chose a fine time to manufacture drama on the shores of Carmel Bay.
Walker owned a six-shot lead as he made the turn in Sunday's final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He threatened to transform the back nine into the opposite of must-see TV, with a low-wattage player (no offense, Mr. Walker) coasting to a ho-hum victory.
Then his boat started taking on water, big-time.
Walker ultimately stood over a 5-foot par putt on No. 18, needing to make it to avoid an improbable sudden-death playoff with Dustin Johnson (66) and Jim Renner (67). Walker exhaled only after he coaxed the ball into the left side of the hole, completing his final-round 74 and giving him a one-shot victory.
It was Walker's third win in his past eight starts, dating to the Frys.com Open at CordeValle in October, and it stamped him as the PGA Tour's hottest player. That's no trivial distinction, especially with this latest triumph occurring on one of the world's most famous courses.
"It's amazing when you think of the people who have won here," said Walker, who accurately included Tom Watson, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus on the list. "Pebble is such a cool place to win."
Walker conquered some notable players. Johnson is a two-time AT&T champion and one of the tour's longest hitters. Jordan Spieth, the 2013 Rookie of the Year, might become the game's next transcendent star. Phil Mickelson started Sunday on the leaderboard, as did Hunter Mahan, and Graeme McDowell ended the day there.
Even so, the nature of Walker's wobbly win also showed it's premature to anoint him a threat on golf's biggest stages. He made two bogeys in his first 63 holes of this tournament - and four in his last nine. He's still not accustomed to the glare of contention on Sundays.
Also worth remembering: Walker, 35, has made only six major-championship starts in his career. He missed the cut four times, and his best finish was a tie for 21st at the 2012 PGA Championship. If he wants to validate this torrid stretch and resonate with casual fans, he needs to make noise in a major.
"I think I'm more equipped," Walker said. "I'm playing better than I have been. Time will tell. It's another golf tournament, and I think it's what you want to make it in your head."
Walker joined some lofty company in becoming only the fourth player in the past 20 years to start a season with three wins in eight or fewer starts. (This season technically began with the Frys, given the tour's new wraparound calendar.) The others are Woods, who has done it eight times; Mickelson; and David Duval.
Walker obviously has a long way to go to match those three for long-term achievement - he went winless in his first seven years and 187 starts on tour. But that also adds a wrinkle to his back story, complete with an unusual hobby: astrophotography.
He was intrigued by astronomy as a kid, and his interest grew when he got a telescope for Christmas in 2009. Before long, Walker had attached a camera, began taking trips to New Mexico (he lives outside San Antonio) and occasionally spent all night staring into space and taking cool photos of distant galaxies.
Those photos now are on display at his website, http://ift.tt/L1OYr6, which figures to get more traffic as Walker gains renown for his day job.
"I enjoy being outside and looking at the night sky," he said in explaining the appeal of his hobby. "And then it's the artistic side of putting the image together and making it what it is. So it combines a lot of things I like."
He didn't really like what happened early on the back nine Sunday. Walker abruptly lost his putting touch and made bogeys on Nos. 10, 12 and 13, shaving his lead to three strokes.
Johnson and Renner applied pressure, shooting 33 and 31 respectively on the back nine. Then Walker three-putted for another bogey on No. 17, and suddenly his lead was only one as he stepped to the No. 18 tee.
He tried to play smart, but his 4-iron tee shot found tall grass near a fairway bunker. Walker eventually needed to two-putt from 27 feet and one-putt from 5 feet. He did, barely.
"Good TV, isn't it?" Walker said of the unexpected drama. "Too much for me."
Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick
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