Monday, February 22, 2016

That’s entertainment, as they say in the neighbourhood, steps from Sunset Boulevard, California, adjacent to Hollywood, and does anyone put on a better show than Bubba Watson, one man playing two roles, protagonist and antagonist alike?
Only two weeks after again running afoul of those with an aversion to an athlete speaking his mind (“I don’t like it at all,” he said of the TPC Scottsdale), Watson won the Northern Trust Open with a dazzling close at the Riviera Country Club, his second victory there in three years.
“I love it because of the history,” Watson said early in the week, but also because “you can imagine a bunch of shots around the trees and around the greens.”
No one navigates a course with greater imagination than Watson, and with Riviera’s fairways that bend and pin positions that require shots that do so as well, he is in his element.

He hit a perfect draw to a tight right pin at the par-3 16th to three feet for a birdie that moved him into a tie for the lead with Jason Kokrak. Then he reached the green in two at the 590-yard par-5 17th, made a two-putt birdie to take the lead and held it with a routine par at 18 for a 15 under par total of 269 to prevail over a star-studded cast.
Adam Scott and Jason Kokrak tied for second place, a shot behind on 270.
Early in the round, Watson, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Adam Scott were tied for the lead. Only Scott kept pace, and he holed a chip shot for birdie at 18 that briefly tied the lead.
McIlroy had an error-strewn closing round of 75 for a T20 finish on 278.
Scotland's Martin Laird, in T11 position, was the leading Brit with a 69 for 276.
“For me to come back and win and pull one out in a tough way it means a lot,” Watson said.
More to the point, he overcame his most formidable opponent. Himself. He never lost his composure, even when he made a mess of the 13th hole and fell two shots behind.
“We’ve been working on it hard,” he said. “Slow process. Instead of swing thoughts and swing, it’s all about the mind. And so for me it’s staying patient and Teddy [Scott, his caddie] in my ear. And Teddy’s been a blessing with that. It’s been a struggle over five years, but it’s working in the right direction.”
Watson is the most entertaining player today, with a swing that did not come from the country club assembly line, and an array of shots that never go straight in a game requiring marksmanship.
But he also is given to fits of frustration on the course and misspeaking off it. With Watson, better to take the good with the bad and simply enjoy the show.
And what a show it is. This victory was his ninth, and, at 37, he is moving down a path that leads to the World Golf Hall of Fame. Two of the nine wins have come in the Masters, the first in 2012, the second in 2014.
Incidentally, he won the Northern Trust Open (which used to be called the Los Angeles Open), in 2014, too. Is there a pattern here that suggests a third green jacket in 2016?
Stay tuned. With Bubba in the mix, however it turns out, it won’t be dull.

ALL THE FINAL TOTALS

1 --


66 68 67 68 269

T2


68 68 67 67 270
T2


68 64 70 68 270

4


68 66 68 69 271

T5


68 67 68 69 272
T5


69 67 67 69 272
7 5 -11 F E 66 67 69 71 273
T8 11 -10 F -4 69 69 69 67 274
T8 4 -10 F -2 70 69 66 69 274
10 4 -9 F -2 69 68 69 69 275

T11


68 70 69 69 276
T11 3 -8 F -1 71 66 69 70 276
T11 3 -8 F -1 71 68 67 70 276
T11 1 -8 F 1 69 67 68 72 276
T11 1 -8 F 1 68 66 70 72 276
T16 10 -7 F -2 73 68 67 69 277
T16 34 -7 F* -5 70 70 71 66 277

T16


69 68 69 71 277
T16 2 -7 F E 67 69 70 71 277
T20 14 -6 F -2 70 71 68 69 278
T20 14 -6 F -2 69 70 70 69 278
T20 21 -6 F* -3 70 69 71 68 278
T20 30 -6 F* -4 66 70 75 67 278
T20 1 -6 F E 68 72 67 71 278
T20


67 69 67 75 278
T26 8 -5 F -1 71 69 69 70 279
T26 8 -5 F -1 71 68 70 70 279
T26 15 -5 F* -2 70 68 72 69 279
T26 -- -5 F E 67 70 71 71 279
T26 -- -5 F E 74 68 66 71 279
T26 24 -5 F* -3 72 68 71 68 279
T26 7 -5 F 1 68 68 71 72 279
T26 24 -5 F* -3 74 67 70 68 279
T26 7 -5 F 1 71 67 69 72 279
T26 32 -5 F* -4 70 69 73 67 279
T26 21 -5 F 5 68 69 66 76 279
T37 4 -4 F* -1 73 69 68 70 280
T37 18 -4 F 2 63 74 70 73 280
T39 5 -3 F* 1 70 72 67 72 281
T39 13 -3 F 2 68 70 70 73 281
T39 13 -3 F 2 72 67 69 73 281
T39 13 -3 F 2 71 69 68 73 281
T39 27 -3 F 5 70 67 68 76 281
T39 24 -3 F* -3 73 69 71 68 281
T45 11 -2 F 2 70 71 68 73 282
T45 11 -2 F 2 68 68 73 73 282
T45 4 -2 F* 1 72 69 69 72 282
T45 5 -2 F* E 68 72 71 71 282
T45 5 -2 F* E 70 69 72 71 282
T45 26 -2 F 4 71 70 66 75 282
T45 18 -2 F* -2 68 72 73 69 282
T52 11 -1 F* 2 69 71 70 73 283
T52 20 -1 F* -2 70 69 75 69 283
T54 13 E F* 3 69 72 69 74 284
T54 28 E F 5 70 72 66 76 284
T54 4 E F* 2 71 70 70 73 284
T54 4 E F* 1 68 72 72 72 284
T54 9 E F* E 75 67 71 71 284
T59 9 1 F* 3 67 74 70 74 285
T59 1 1 F* 2 69 73 70 73 285
T59 4 1 F* 1 69 71 73 72 285
T59 4 1 F* 1 71 71 71 72 285
T63 22 2 F* 5 70 72 68 76 286
T63 -- 2 F* 2 71 69 73 73 286
T63 -- 2 F* 2 72 70 71 73 286
T66 25 3 F* 6 69 71 70 77 287
T66 25 3 F* 6 73 68 69 77 287
T68 42 4 F 9 72 66 70 80 288
T68 5 4 F* 4 71 71 71 75 288
T68 5 4 F* 4 70 72 71 75 288
T68 4 4 F* 3 70 71 73 74 288
T72 14 5 F* 6 67 72 73 77 289
T72 14 5 F* 6 70 72 70 77 289
T72 3 5 F* 3 71 71 73 74 289
75 -- 6 F* 4 67 75 73 75 290
76 4 7 F* 6 72 70 72 77 291
 

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posted by Colin | See story on its own page | Monday, February 22, 2016

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