Watson back on right path after drought-ending win
LOS A NGELES • Bubba Watson says he was contemplating retirement.
The two- t i me Masters champion had gone two years without winning. He fell out of the top 100 in the world ranking for the first time in 10 years. He was losing power and losing confidence, and it didn’t matter which colour golf ball he was using. Worst of all, he was losing weight from an illness he still doesn’t want to talk about.
He wound up sticking to golf. One week at Riviera was a reminder that Bubba Golf remains a bestseller.
Watson ended his longest drought of the decade with a game perfectly suited for the classic layout off Sunset Boulevard to score a twoshot victory in the Genesis Open that changes his outlook.
“The last year- and- a- half, almost two years give or take, it’s been a struggle because I want to be at the top,” Watson said.
When he won at Riviera for the second time in 2016, Watson was at No. 4 in the world. The following week, he finished one shot behind at the World Golf Championships event at Doral. During his next 36 starts on the PGA Tour in stroke play, he had two top 10s.
Next up for Watson is to see how far this goes.
He spoke Saturday about trending in the right direction even if he didn’t win the Genesis Open. The victory is sure to be a jolt of confidence.
Was he really close to calling it quits? “I was close,” he said. “My wife was not close. My wife basically told me to quit whining and play golf.”