WATSON SHOOTS TO TOP AT RIVIERA
American collects an eagle and five birdies to shoot to the top
LOS ANGELES: Bubba Watson swooped for an eagle and five birdies in a sixunder 65 at Riviera Country Club to seize a oneshot lead going into the final round of the Genesis Open.
Twotime US Masters champion Watson is also a twotime winner at Riviera, claiming the most recent of his nine US PGA Tour titles here in 2016.
His 10under total of 203 put him one stroke in front of Southern California native Patrick Cantlay, who rolled in a 55foot birdie putt at the 18th to cap a 69 for 204 on Saturday.
Watson, energised perhaps by his appearance in the NBA AllStar Celebrity Game on Friday night, produced his signature moment right out of the gate.
His second shot at the parfive first rolled within 18 inches of the pin to give him a tapin eagle.
“We guessed right on number one today, trying to get the right yardage, the right club for the wind and everything,” Watson said.
“It calms you down real fast when you tap in for eagle.”
A par save from a bunker at the second kept the momentum going. Watson chipped in for a birdie from just off the green at the parthree sixth, the first of four birdies in a fivehole span.
He followed his only bogey of the day at 15 with a birdie at 17.
“Knowing how difficult this golf course is, my whole thing was trying to hit greens, somehow just hang in there wherever I was,” Watson said. “We hung on.”
With his monster birdie at 18 Cantlay separated himself from a chasing pack.
Australian Cameron Smith, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell and Americans Kevin Na and Tony Finau shared third on 205.
McDowell, who shared the overnight lead with Cantlay, carded a oneunder 70. Na posted a 67, Finau a 68 and Smith climbed up the leaderboard with a bogeyfree sixunder 65.
Cantlay was delighted with his closing birdie, but said the real key to his round was grinding through holes three through seven without a bogey.
“I hit great pitches and I hit a great bunker shot on three and I made all those putts and that was huge for the momentum,” he said.
The stretch included a tough up and down at the parthree six, where he opted to chip over the small bunker in the middle of the green.
His shot landed perfectly above the cup and funnelled down to the hole for a par.
“I was able to get so much height on it that I thought it would be pretty good when it was in the air.”
Cantlay, a former topranked amateur, will be seeking his second US PGA Tour title, after winning in Las Vegas in November.
He and Watson, who has slipped to 117th in the world after a forgettable 2017 season, will play in the last group in the final round with Smith, whose pro wins include last year’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Australian PGA Championship in December.
Fifteen players are within five shots of the lead, including world No. 1 and defending champion Dustin Johnson.
After squeezing into the weekend, Johnson blistered Riviera with a bogeyfree sevenunder 64 to move four shots off Watson’s lead.
“Making the turn I said we’ve got 27 holes to see how good we are, we can get back in this thing,” Johnson said.
“You never know what’s going to happen. I need to get off to a good start again.”