Bubba Watson takes the lead in Genesis Open
LOS ANGELES — Back to his day job, Bubba Watson began with a tap-in eagle at Riviera and finished with a 6-under 65 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead over Patrick Cantlay in the Genesis Open.
Watson, a two-time winner at Riviera, has gone two years since his last victory and has fallen out of the top 100 in the world.
Watson chipped in from short of the par-3 sixth green, made two more birdies to go out in 30, and then began the back nine with a birdie on No. 10, his least favorite hole at Riviera. The only blip was a bogey on the 15th.
Watson was at 10-under 203 and will be in the final group with Cantlay, the former No. 1 amateur in the world and polar opposite of Watson.
Cantlay ended his round with a 55-foot birdie putt for a 69 to get within one shot of Watson.
Cameron Smith (65), Kevin Na (67), Graeme McDowell (70) and Tony Finau (68) were two shots back. Suddenly in the mix was defending champion Dustin Johnson, who told his brother at the turn that he had 27 holes to show what he had. Johnson then shot 29 on the front nine for a 64 and was four shots behind.
As much attention as Cantlay’s long putt on the 18th gets, it was a series of pars on the front nine that saved him.
That started with a shortsided bunker shot and a 10-foot par putt. He missed the green left on the par-3 fourth hole and hit a lofted chip to 3 feet. He made a 10-foot par putt on No. 5 and another one that length at No. 7.
His best work came on No. 6, the par 3 with the bunker in the middle. It goes in the books as a twoputt par. It was so much more.
Cantlay pulled his shot to the left side of tee the green, with the pin on the other side of the bunker. Cantlay figured he could putt around the high side of the bunker that assure himself a 15-foot par putt from below the hole. Instead, he pitched it off the green and over the bunker, past the hole and up the slope, and then it rolled down toward the hole and narrowly missed.
Cantlay kept a clean card on the back nine, opening with two birdies and closing with the big putt on the 18th.
The nature of Riviera, with its firm turf after a week under the sun, made it difficult for anyone to get too far away. Fifteen players were separated by five shots going into the final round, though the task gets tough with Watson’s history.
He won in 2014 by not making a bogey over the final 36 holes. He won again in 2016 during another week rubbing shoulders with the stars.
Watson’s goal was to avoid getting hurt. Having gone two years since his last victory, all he wanted was a chance. Now he has one.
Jin Young Ko continued her domination of the Women’s Australian Open, shooting a 1-under 71 Saturday to increase her lead to four strokes after three rounds in Adelaide, Australia.
The South Korean, who led after each of the opening two rounds of the LPGA tournament, had a threeround total of 11-under 205 at Kooyonga Golf Club.
Australian golfer Hannah Green moved into second place after the round of the day, a 66.
Green, 21, is seeking to become the first Australian to claim her national crown since Karrie Webb won the last of her five titles in 2014. Webb, who is playing a parttime schedule in 2018, missed the cut Friday by one stroke.
Joe Durant birdied five of the last eight holes for a 9-under 63 to match Steve Stricker’s Saturday finish and take the second-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ Chubb Classic in Naples.
Durant rebounded from a three-putt bogey on the par-4 10th with birdies on the next two holes and also birdied Nos. 15-17. He had a 14-under 130 total on TwinEagles’ Talon course for a one-stroke lead over Stricker.
Stricker had nine birdies in a bogey-free round.
“I look forward to playing with Steve,” Durant said. “He’s a class act, one of my buddies out here, and obviously he is playing well and he had a great round today. It will be a shootout tomorrow, no question, but it will be fun.”