Watson breaks drought with win
Bubba Watson ended two years without winning with his third victory at Riviera in Los Angeles. Watson seized control Sunday with two par putts as everyone around him was dropping shots, then pulling ahead by holing a bunker shot on the par-3 14th hole. He closed with a 2-under-par 69 for a two-shot victory in the Genesis Open over Kevin
Na and Tony Finau, and more tears on the 18th green. It was his first victory since he won at Riviera two years ago, rising to No. 4 in the world. Watson showed up this year at No. 117, coming off a year filled with so many doubts that he says he discussed retirement with his wife on a dozen occasions. If anything, the only talk of retirement should be whether to settle down off Sunset Boulevard. He joined Ben Hogan and Lloyd
Mangrum as three-time winners at Riviera. Hogan’s victories include a U.S. Open. Watson wrapped up another funfilled week in L.A. on and off the golf course, which included an appearance in the NBA All-Star celebrity game, where he shot an air ball from just inside the top of the key and was rejected by
Tracy McGrady driving — jogging, really — along the baseline toward the basket. Far more memorable was getting his 10th career PGA Tour victory.
❚ Joe Durant birdied the final two holes, and got some help from Steve
Stricker, to win the PGA Tour Champions’ Chubb Classic in Naples, Fla. Durant shot 5-under 67 on Sunday for a four-stroke victory over Stricker, David Toms, Lee Janzen, Billy Mayfair and Tim Petrovic. Tied with Durant with two holes left, Stricker dropped a stroke back when Durant birdied the par-5 17th. On the par-4 18th, Stricker hit into the water and made a double bogey for a three-shot swing.
❚ South Korea’s Jin Young Ko, playing in her first event as an LPGA tour member, closed with a 3-under-par 69
to complete a wire-to-wire victory in the Women’s Australian Open in Adelaide. She becomes the second player to claim an LPGA title in her first start as a member and the first since Beverly Hanson in 1951.
❚ Joost Luiten won the European Tour’s inaugural Oman Open on Sunday in Muscat for his first victory in nearly 17 months. The 32-year-old Dutchman closed with a 4-under-par 68 to finish at 16-under 272, two shots ahead of England’s Chris Wood (69).