Bubba Watson ended a two-year winless run on the PGA Tour with a hard-fought victory at the Genesis Open at Riviera County Club in Los Angeles.
The 39-year-old lefthander’s last win came at the same event – when it was called the Northern Trust Open – in February 2016, and it was his third career victory in the tournament, following an earlier triumph in 2014.
After a jittery front nine, which saw the lead change several times, with Patrick Cantlay, Ryan Moore, Kevin Na and Tony Finau jostling for top spot, Watson held it together on the back nine, shooting a final round 69 to win by two shots from Na and Finau and bag his tenth PGA Tour title.
After dropping shots at the third, sixth and ninth, Watson made a superb up-and-down from the bunker on 11 to save par, and then holed a bunker shot on 14 for a priceless birdie, and then picked up another shot at the par-five 17th, leaving himself a two-shot cushion playing the last, which he parred for victory.
Watson later admitted that he had seriously considered quitting the tour after suffering a severe slump in form in recent seasons, which had seen him drop out of the world’s top 100.
“You never know if you’re going to play well again, and you never know if you’re going to lift a trophy again,” he said. “I thought about retirement, and I mentioned it about a dozen times to my wife. We sat down and had many talks about it because physically I wasn’t ready to play. So to have the chance on the back nine on Sunday to win again, and then to pull it off, that’s very special. My goal has always been to get 10 wins, so to achieve that is amazing.”
Further down the leaderboard, Phil Mickelson got to within one of the lead early on Sunday before fading down the stretch, while defending champion Dustin Johnson was just three off the lead after 54 holes following a superb 64 on Saturday, but the world No.1 produced an untidy 73 on Sunday, which featured five birdies, three bogeys and two double-bogeys, to finish in a tie for 16th.
Rory McIlroy enjoyed his best round of the week when closing with a 68 to finish in a tie for 20th, while fellow countryman Graeme McDowell, who was just two shots off the lead before the final round, endured a nightmare run of six bogeys in seven holes from the ninth to close with a 77 and slip down from third to 26th.
Bubba Watson’s winning gear:
Driver: Ping G400 LST (8.5)
Hybrid: Ping G (19)
Irons: Ping iBlade (2) Ping S55 (4-PW)
Wedges: Ping Glide 2.0 SS (52, 56); Ping Glide 2.0 TS (60 )
Putter: Ping PLD
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x