U.S. wins Presidents Cup in thrilling nailbiter

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Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Genesis Open that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Walk of Fame Bubba Watson played the back nine three-under-par 33 to post 12-under-par 272 to win the Genesis Open by two shots over Kevin Na and Tony Finau at The Riviera Country Club. The left-handed, 39-year old picks up his third win at the Genesis Open (2014, 2016 and 2018) and joins legends MacDonald Smith (4), Lloyd Mangrum (4) and Ben Hogan (3) as the most decorated winners at this event since its inception in 1926. Watson picks up his 10th win on TOUR but first since his second triumph here in 2016. Watson, who said after the round he contemplated retirement multiple times over the last year, played fantastically again on a course he loves. He’s 42-under-par in his three wins with 11 of the 12 rounds in red figures (the 12th round is even par for a stroke average of 70.03). His “worst” finish in seven weekends in Pacific Palisades is T17. He was excellent in all phases of the game and throughout all of the clubs in his bag. He checked in T21 or better in all of the strokes-gained categories with tee-to-green his best of the bunch (2nd). He only made eight bogeys on the week (6th-best total) and circled 20 birdies (2nd most) and one eagle. Moving forward, Watson said he would re-evaluate his professional goals once he picked up win No. 10. After winning just over $1.2 million last season, gamers who invested in him have already been rewarded. Weekly players will need to circle the Masters and the Travelers for later in the season. Sorry if you were on board earlier at Farmers Insurance Open and Waste Management Phoenix Open when he didn’t fire on courses he’s played well. Gamers’ Choices — PGA TOUR Fantasy Game presented by SERVPRO Everything always looks sooooooo good on Wednesday night! This list would have been even worse if not for big Sunday rounds from Mickelson and Spieth. Pro gamers will remind all of us there’s a reason they count all 72 holes. Gamers’ Choices — PGA TOUR One & Done presented by SERVPRO It was a big week for those who chose not to fade Johnson. He’ll be on the radar in two weeks as he defends at the WGC-Mexico Championship and will also defend at WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. The Mickelson backers will lament T6 but they shouldn’t! Read more on Mickelson below. Close Encounters Diamond Bar, California, native Kevin Na continued a streak of all-or-Nada at Riviera. He’s 21-under-par the last two years and has cashed for T4 in 2017 and T2 this year. He missed the cut in three of the four years prior. … Tony Finau joined Na and Cameron Smith (T6) for collecting the least amount of bogeys on the week with six. Finau collects his third top 10 of the season with all of those paydays coming in California. He was second at the Safeway Open and T6 at Torrey Pines. Noted. Not Stalling Out Scott Stallings posted the co-lowest round last Sunday at Pebble Beach and rode that momentum this week at Riviera. He posted a trio of 68’s to end the week and pick up his best finish on TOUR (T4) since last July. He improved on his T23 in Phoenix and solo seventh last week. He’s in the field at The Honda Classic. Full-Phil-ling Expectations Mickelson (T6) continued his excellent play on with his third-consecutive top-10 finish for the first time since 2009. This lefty now has four top-10 finishes in six weekends this season. Like Finau, three have been in California but he also added T5 at TPC Scottsdale. He was pleased with his play but is taking next week off before heading back to more kikuyu grass in Mexico City in two weeks. He said he’s pleased with his putting and driving but needs a break mentally and physically. It was interesting to hear him say that he feels he needs to win before Augusta, as he doesn’t want to go there with that streak hanging over him. Sneaking in the Back Door Gamers invested in Adam Hadwin this week went through the entire gamut of emotions. Hadwin matched his Saturday 66 with another one on Sunday, the lowest of the final round, to move him up 14 more places and into the top 10 (T6). That’s four years in a row T34 or better here. … Spieth also repaid the faith of those on board this week as each round improved (71-70-69-67) over the four days. His 67 on Sunday was the second-best round and vaulted him up 11 spots into the top 10. Sunday Silence After a noisy Saturday with 64, Dustin Johnson couldn’t pull a “Bubba Watson” with 64-64 to steal the event on Sunday. The world’s No. 1 player added two more doubles to his card and any dreams of a comeback were doused. … Rory McIlroy’s 68 on Sunday moved him up 22 spots to T20. He only made 12 birdies on the week (T50) and that wasn’t going to be enough to factor. I’m not sure I’ll be starting him on Poa annua any time soon after these last two weeks. Study Hall Kiradech Aphibarnrat won the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth last week and he’s in the field at The Honda Classic. … Joost Luiten won the inaugural NBO Oman Open on the European Tour. … Joe Durant won the Chubb Classic in Naples by four shots on the PGA TOUR Champions. … Patrick Rodgers finished in the top 30 for the second week in a row (T26). … Graeme McDowell faded from T3 to T26 with 77 but he’s been in the mix at PGA National recently. … Alex Noren added T16 this week to P2 at Torrey Pines to reinforce he plays difficult courses well. He’s also in the field at The Honda Classic. … Martin Laird’s T9 was his third-consecutive check of T11 or better at the Genesis Open.

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Bryson DeChambeau will defend his title at next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard after missing multiple starts this year because of injury. “It’s important to Bryson to try and defend at an event that has Arnold Palmer’s name on it, so he’s doing everything in his power to play,” DeChambeau’s agent, Brett Falkoff, said. “He’ll continue to rehab over the next few days and without any setbacks, we’re hopeful he’ll be able to compete next week.” After withdrawing from last week’s The Genesis Invitational, DeChambeau tweeted that he was rehabbing “a hip and hand injury.” He said he was making “positive progress” on the injury. Last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard was DeChambeau’s eighth PGA TOUR victory. He closed with 12 consecutive pars to shoot a final-round 71 and win by one shot over Lee Westwood. DeChambeau’s last birdie of the final round at Bay Hill came on the par-5 sixth hole, which was the site of his memorable tee shots on the weekend. He hit drives of 370 and 377 yards in each of the last two rounds, cutting the corner on the curving par-5 to leave himself less than 90 yards for his second shot each day. “The thrill of the drive on No. 6 was one of the highlights … of my career,” DeChambeau said earlier this year. “The energy from the fans, the positive support I received from having some fun on that hole was really special to me. “Winning Mr. Palmer’s tournament was such an honor for me as I’ve loved and respected Mr. Palmer for so many years. He was and still is an idol of mine today.”

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