Watson steamrolls Kisner to win Dell Match Play, 7-and-6
Bubba Watson made the final of the Dell Technologies Match Play look as though he were on vacation all along.
Watson won his second World Golf Championships title Sunday with the biggest blowout since the championship matched switched to 18 holes in 2011, a 7-and-6 victory over Kevin Kisner.
Watson had scheduled a family vacation out of the country on Sunday, which he had to postpone. Watson figured he hardly ever makes it this far in golf’s most fickle format, so it was a good problem to have.
Watson wasn’t as sharp in the final as he was in the semifinals against Justin Thomas, whom he beat in 16 holes. He didn’t have to be. If not for missing a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-5 sixth, Watson would have won the first seven holes.
Kisner had a lot to do with that. After escaping in 19 holes against Alex Noren in his semifinal match, Kisner didn’t put up much of a fight. He made four straight bogeys and only twice on the front nine was putting for birdie.
“I don’t know what was going on. It was just pitiful,” Kisner said.
Watson never trailed in the 28 holes he played Sunday, and he was never seriously threatened. The twotime Masters champion added his name to the growing list of contenders at Augusta National. The Masters starts April 5.
“I’m looking forward to it, and hopefully I can get this focus and my putter rolling like it is,” said Watson, who won for the second time in four starts.
The tougher match Sunday was against Thomas, the PGA champion who needed only to reach the championship match to replace Dustin Johnson at No. 1 in the world. Watson went out to a 3-up lead on the front nine, and when Thomas closed to 1 down at the turn with his first birdie putt, Watson won two of the next three holes to regain control. Thomas didn’t make another birdie until the par-5 16th, and by then it was too late. Watson made his birdie from 3 feet for a 3-and-2 victory.
Thomas said he was too consumed with what was at stake in the semifinals.
“I haven’t had such a hard time not thinking about something so much. And that really sucked,” Thomas said.
PGA Tour
Brice Garnett completed a wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship in the Dominican Republican for his first PGA Tour title.
PGA Tour Champions
Steve Stricker pulled away on the back nine at Fallen Oak to win the Rapiscan Systems Classic for his second straight PGA Tour Champions victory. Stricker closed with a 4-under 68 for a three-stroke victory over Billy Andrade in Biloxi, Miss.
LPGA
Eun-Hee Ji had a hole-inone to dramatically finish off Cristie Kerr and the other challengers in the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, Calif. Her lead cut from four strokes to one, Ji aced the 156-yard 14th with a 7-iron, the ball bouncing and rolling into the hole, to push her advantage to three shots.