The Upshot: Bubba Watson wins Dell Technologies Match Play

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – The 14th green at Pebble Beach is hard enough to hit with a wedge, let alone a 3-wood. Out-of-bounds stakes aren’t far from the putting surface, either. Gary Woodland wasn’t sure he should take the risk while holding the lead on the final holes of the U.S. Open. Woodland, the former college basketball player turned professional golfer, has physical gifts that few players possess, though. His caddie, Brennan Little, urged him to use them at this crucial moment. The uphill hole annually ranks as one of the hardest par-5s on the PGA TOUR. It’s the rare three-shotter where par is acceptable. Most players never have to consider reaching it in two. Woodland’s 3-wood carried the gaping bunker in front of the green and settled in the rough, just left of the flag. The birdie gave him a two-shot margin and the confidence to close out his first major championship. “It would have been pretty easy to lay up there. … (My caddie) is the one that told me play aggressive,â€� Woodland said. “Him telling me to do that gave me confidence, and it ended up in a perfect spot. That birdie there kind of separated me a little bit from Brooks and gave me a little cushion.â€� That shot was impressive, but it was a shorter stroke three holes later that illustrated Woodland’s progress from promising prospect to major champion. After his tee shot drifted to the wrong side of the hourglass green on Pebble Beach’s 17th hole, he nearly holed his chip shot from off the putting surface. That par save allowed him to play the picturesque finishing hole comfortably. But he added one more magnificent stroke to his triumph with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the championship. A final-round 69 gave Woodland a winning score of 13-under 271. He held off the TOUR’s most intimidating man in majors, Brooks Koepka, who pulled within one shot on the back nine, but could never overtake Woodland. Koepka fell three shots short of winning his third consecutive U.S. Open. He’s finished in the top 2 in five of the past six majors. Woodland didn’t dream of sinking big putts on the 18th green when he was growing up in Topeka, Kansas, though. He wanted to hit game-winning jumpers. However, he knew his basketball career was on borrowed time after the first game of his college career. He was a freshman guard for Washburn University when the Ichabods visited Lawrence Fieldhouse to face the Kansas Jayhawks. His assignment was to guard future NBA player Kirk Hinrich in the season-opening exhibition. “I was guarding Kirk Hinrich and like, OK, I need to find something else because this ain’t gonna work,â€� Woodland said. He transferred to Kansas the following year to play college golf. Woodland always thought he’d be a professional athlete. Golf was going to be his vocation now. His athleticism helped him get to the PGA TOUR in 2009, less than two years after he turned pro. Woodland’s physical prowess has received plenty of press ever since he arrived on TOUR. The college basketball player epitomized the bigger, stronger athletes who were migrating to the course. The expectations were raised even higher when he won just two years later. His ascension slowed because of an unpolished, one-dimensional game. His win at last year’s Waste Management Phoenix Open was just his third in nearly a decade on TOUR, and first in five years. “From a golf standpoint, I was probably a little behind, and that gets frustrating at some point, because my whole life I’ve been able to compete and win at everything I’ve done, and I haven’t been able to do that as much as I’d like to in golf,â€� said Woodland, 35. “It’s taken a while, but I think we’re trending in the right direction.â€� When he arrived at Pebble Beach, he was the highest-ranked player in the FedExCup without a victory. His first major title moved him to fifth in the standings. This is the first time in his career that he’s won in back-to-back seasons. He credited the work with Pete Cowen, who became his short-game instructor 18 months ago and then started coaching all facets of his game after Butch Harmon retired from instructing on TOUR earlier this year. Woodland was stellar around the greens at Pebble Beach, which is not an easy task on the steeply-pitched, poa annua putting surfaces. He didn’t three-putt all week. He made just four bogeys over 72 holes, tying a U.S. Open record. He was second in Strokes Gained: Putting this week, as well. His +8.3 strokes gained marked the second-best putting performance of his career. “He’s experimented, and he’s put the time and effort in to get better,â€� said his friend Matt Kuchar. “He’s really refined his skills. Not only does he have potential, but he gets a lot out of it now. He’s figured out how to play golf, how to keep it in play, how to work it both ways and his short game has vastly improved. It used to be a liability and now he’s gaining strokes around the greens.â€� Woodland is 54th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green this season, an improvement of more than 100 spots in that statistic since last season. Earlier in the week, he and Cowen were working on hitting pitch shots off tight lies. That helped him execute that difficult pitch on the second-to-last hole. “I competed all my life at every sport and every level,â€� Woodland said. “It was just learning how to play golf. It was learning to complete my game, to get that short game, to get that putting, to drive the golf ball straighter. And that was the big deal.â€� The ability to perform under pressure is one of those intangibles that statistics can’t accurately measure, though. On Sunday, Woodland didn’t look like a man who’d never converted a 54-hole lead into victory. He’d taken at least of the share of the lead into the final round on seven occasions. He was winless in all seven. He started Sunday with a one-stroke lead over Justin Rose. Major champions like Koepka, Louis Oosthuizen and Rory McIlroy were still within reach. Woodland didn’t blink when Koepka made birdie on four of the first five holes Sunday. He made birdies on Nos. 2 and 3 to keep his lead. Playing with Tiger Woods in the final round of last year’s PGA Championship taught him about handling the final-round pressure. Woodland and Woods were both in contention, and Bellerive was overflowing with fans eager to see Woods win his first major in a decade. The chaos distracted Woodland early in the round. It was too late by the time he gathered himself. Woods and Koepka were already locked in a showdown. That experience helped him at Pebble Beach, especially as Koepka put pressue on him. “I think from a mental standpoint I was as good as I’ve ever been,â€� Woodland said Sunday. “I never let myself get ahead of myself. I never thought about what would happen if I won, what comes with it. I wanted to execute every shot. I wanted to stay in the moment. I wanted to stay within myself.â€� Woodland, who didn’t have a top-10 in his first 27 majors, now has three in his last four. That shows a more complete game, one that’s able to withstand the toughest tests. Pebble Beach, which played just a hair over 7,000 yards, forced him to rely on more than just his driving distance. The small greens demand precise iron play. He finished second in greens in regulation this week, hitting 52 of 72. “People probably growing up said the U.S. Open wouldn’t suit me, because I’m a long hitter, I’m a bomber,â€� Woodland said. “Coming to Pebble Beach, on top of that, it’s a shorter golf course. And I went out and proved, I think to everybody else, what I always believed, that I’m pretty good.â€�

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LAS VEGAS – It takes a special type of human to get the yips and come out on the other side with a bright smile. “I’ve always been told I was special growing up,â€� Kevin Na said with a laugh. The laugh is contagious. As is the smile. If you didn’t know him you would never guess this was the guy who for a lengthy part of his career couldn’t pull the trigger on his driver. Or the guy who had a 16 on one hole during the 2011 Valero Texas Open. Or the guy who copped vitriol for being too slow on the course. Having played PGA TOUR events since 2001, Na has seen a lot in this game. The above could have easily sent him into a deep state of depression. And while he admits there have been tough moments, the 36-year-old Na made a decision to always search for positives. His natural humor helps. It is why we see things like him walking in putts, which has become a social media sensation. It is why he went back out to TPC San Antonio with a chainsaw to cut down some trees. It is why he set a speed record during the 2016 TOUR Championship, playing alone as he ran around East Lake in under two hours. And it is why he has three wins on the PGA TOUR, the first coming here in Las Vegas (where he resides) at the 2011 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. “I’m not afraid to make fun of myself. Some of these things, you have to be able to own up to it,â€� Na says. “Making a 16, it can happen to anybody. I’ve had the yips. … that can also happen to anybody. Because I have been so open about it, I think a lot of people have come to me asking for advice and I love trying to help people where I can. “It’s important that you are not a person that digs a hole of negativity that you ultimately struggle to get out of. Be open about things. Talk about it. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. “Golf is a marathon. I want to play as long as I can. I want to play PGA TOUR Champions. And golf is like life. You are always trying to get better and always trying to improve. If you make a mistake, apologize if you need to, learn from it and try to be better next time. I’ve tried to follow that mindset.â€� And now that decision to focus on resilience and positive thinking is paying off for others. As the Korean influence grows on the PGA TOUR, Na has made sure he is available as a sounding board. Korean culture brings an ethos of hard work and dedication to your craft – something Na advocates – but he particularly has become the man to go to to talk culture shock. And to understand that fun, and humor, has a place in the game also. You constantly see Na out in practice rounds with the Korean players doing his best to widen their vision outside just the serious side of the sport. “I want to help the young Korean kids and Korean Americans with the culture differences. I understand all of that and I enjoy trying to give back,â€� Na says. “I like having a happy, bubbly personality. When I play golf, it is game time and you get serious but at the same time I always try to look at the glass half full. “There might be a little trash talk here and there. I’m willing to take it and willing to give it. The Korean culture can obviously be different. I’ve had some friends saying, “Oh my god, did he just say that?â€� But I’ve always liked to laugh and I am very talkative. I’m working and trying hard out there but I like to enjoy myself at the same time. And I like others around me to be having a good time also.â€� Doug Ghim, a rookie this season, saw it firsthand at the season opening A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier – another tournament Na previously won. After humbly asking for a practice round, Na kept the rookie guessing with a few maybes despite always intending to do it. Then when they hit the first tee, Na smacked his golf bag in Ghim’s opening backswing and stared him down. “Welcome to the TOUR,â€� he said to a stunned Ghim before breaking into his laugh. It was the start of what is becoming another new friendship. You’d be hard pressed to find a Korean player on TOUR who Na hasn’t reached out to. And of course his special brand of advice and humor is not limited to one country. Na isn’t afraid to be himself around anyone and it becomes infectious. Seeing Tiger Woods and then Tony Romo mimic his putting with huge smiles on their faces at times this year is proof he has a positive effect on just about anybody. And he plans for that to continue. “We get one life. Let’s make it a fun one,â€� he says. Let’s.

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SAN ANTONIO – Trey Mullinax didn’t make the FedExCup Playoffs last season, so he’s not fully exempt on the PGA TOUR. His conditional status – he finished 137th on the points list – limits his playing opportunities, as he’s made just two starts in the last nine weeks. That means lots of practice time back home in Birmingham, Alabama. Also lots of time to hang out with his family. “It’s been nice, to be honest,â€� he said. “Obviously I would like to play a little more, but the tournaments I get in, I’m really excited, I’m excited about playing golf.â€� Excited enough Saturday to set a course record at TPC San Antonio. Mullinax’s 10-under 62 on Saturday not only put him in the record books, it put him in position to chase his first PGA TOUR win. Having started the day tied for 25th, Mullinax is now in solo third at 12 under entering the final round of the Valero Texas Open. He’ll be in the final threesome with co-leaders Zach Johnson and Andrew Landry, one stroke ahead. Until Saturday, the lowest round since the tournament moved to TPC San Antonio in 2010 has been the 63s by Matt Every in 2012 and Martin Laird, who shot his in the final round to win in 2013. Mullinax set the record by setting another record, shooting 29 on the back nine – two eagles, four birdies and a bogey – for a new nine-hole mark. Mulinax wasn’t exactly sure what the course record was before rolling in his final putt, a 16-footer for eagle at the par-5 18th. After the ball dropped, he turned to caddie David Flynn and said, “I think that might be the course record.â€� Flynn wasn’t sure either. “No matter what,â€� he replied, “you still played pretty good.â€� Mullinax has played pretty well in his limited starts, a tie for sixth at the Valspar Championship, and a tie for 22nd his last start at Corales Puntacana. That was just about a month ago. He opened Thursday with a 2-over 74, doing well to prevent the round from getting away from him. He improved on Friday as his putter heated up, shooting a 4-under 68 to make the cut. That got him to Saturday. “Obviously I don’t think you ever walk onto a tee and think 62,â€� he said, “but I thought I had some low rounds in me. I thought I was rolling the ball well and felt really good with my irons on the range this morning, so got some stuff to happen.â€� He opened with birdie in three of his first four holes, then sandwiched two more birdies around his lone bogey on the 11th after the turn. At the par-5 14th, he chipped in from 95 feet for eagle. That’s when the round ceased looking good and started looking historic. “I knew I was kind of playing pretty well,â€� he said. Consider that an understatement. Mullinax chipped in again from 40 feet just off the green for birdie at the 16th, drilled his approach inside 6 feet at the 17th, and finished with that eagle putt after a terrific second shot from 257 yards with the ball above his feet. He aimed at the left greenside bunker and cut a 3-iron, letting it bounce toward the pin. Johnson, who shares the course record of 60 at the previous Valero venue at La Cantera, wasn’t surprised to hear about the new mark. Neither was he surprised to hear it was Mullinax who shot it. The two became friends when Mullinax used to live in St. Simons Island, Georgia. “I could see a guy that hits it hard, which he does,â€� Johnson said. “He hits it really, really hard. I could see that because the par 5s kind of become par 4s to some degree with this south wind. And you’ve got to putt, you’ve still got to hit good shots and putt. “62’s ridiculous but you can see it.â€� Despite the limited opportunities to showcase his skills, Mullinax has never worried about getting rusty or losing his competitive edge. “You never really lose how to play golf,â€� he said. “It’s just tournament golf, right? So you just go out and get back in the swing of things. Just another day on the golf course.â€� Saturday, though, was a day no golfer had previously experience at TPC San Antonio. And if Mullinax wins Sunday, his playing schedule will become a lot busier with the two-year exemption awarded to the champion.

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