Tiger and his son, Charlie, clearly had a blast at the PNC Championship, a father and son enjoying golf. Maybe the son will end up being the one to help his father’s game.
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AUSTIN, Texas — 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. He picked up 550 FedExCup points to move to fourth in the standings. Â Watson wasn’t as sharp as he was in the semifinals against Justin Thomas, whom he beat in 16 holes to deny Thomas going to No. 1 in the world ranking. He didn’t have to be in the final. 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. 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. There was nothing fickle about his game, especially on the final day. Watson never trailed in the 28 holes he played Sunday, and he was never seriously threatened. The tougher match 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. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it, to be perfectly honest. And I think you’re constantly getting questions about it with the media. But I need to be mentally stronger than that, and understand that it’s just a match.” Noren beat Thomas in the consolation match, 5 and 3. One year after Watson disappeared from among the elite in golf, he has won his last two starts. He was No. 117 in the world when he arrived at Riviera, where he won for the third time in his career. With his 11th victory on the PGA TOUR, he now is back up to No. 21. And the two-time Masters champion added his name to the growing list of contenders at Augusta National. “I’m looking forward to it, and hopefully I can get this focus and my putter rolling like it is,” Watson said. Watson played 109 holes over seven matches, going to the 18th hole just once when he halved his match with Julian Suri on Friday. Through it all, he said he wasn’t committed to only four or five shots. He was hitting high draws, low cuts, all the shots he created as a kid in the Florida Panhandle when he was just a boy with a club and a wild imagination. He wouldn’t have imagined such an easy time against Kisner in the all-Georgia Bulldogs final that ended with the fabled “dog license” score in match play. A dog license in Britain used to cost seven shillings, six pence (referred to as 7 and 6). Watson holed a 10-foot birdie on the opening hole, and then Kisner took care of the rest. His drive was short and to the right on the hill at No. 2, and he did well to get it just short of the green, failing to get up-and-down. Kisner then hit just inside the hazard and had to play up short of another hazard. Then, he found a bunker on the par-3 fourth hole. His next drive went right into the trees on the reachable par-4 fifth. Watson missed his short birdie putt to win the sixth hole, but not to worry. Kisner’s next shot bounced off a spectator’s head and next to a fence, and he had to chip off loose soil across the green for another bogey. This can happen in match play, and Kisner saw it Saturday in his 8-and-6 victory over Ian Poulter. “I don’t know what was going on. It was just pitiful,” Kisner said. “I’ve just got to forget this 12 holes and get back to working on the things that got me here.” Even in a final match that lacked any drama, Watson still managed to shed a few tears. His mother was with him in the gallery on the weekend, and they shared a warm embrace after he made a 7-foot birdie putt on the 12th hole to win the match. “It’s crazy to think about it,” Watson said. “I’ve got two World Golf Championships, and two majors. It’s unbelievable to think about that, giving my mom a hug. Six years old, having one golf club for a year, no lessons. I can sit here and make up stories all day, but it’s absolutely remarkable that I’m able to life a trophy like this.” As for that vacation? Watson was cryptic as ever. “I’m going on vacation tomorrow, no matter if it’s at home or wherever it is, it’s vacation,” he said. “Golf clothes will not be seen until next Saturday.”
Dustin Johnson wins the Travelers Championship for his 21st PGA TOUR victory. Johnson has at least one win in 13 consecutive seasons. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Why DJ has two hybrids in his bag at Travelers Driver: TaylorMade SIM (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Speeder 661 X 3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Max (15 degrees) Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Black 95 6.5 (42.75 inches, 59.5 lie, D4) Hybrids: TaylorMade SIM Max (19, 22 degrees) Shafts: Project X HZRDUS Black 105 6.5 TX Irons: TaylorMade P730 DJ Proto (4-PW) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (soft stepped) Wedges: TaylorMade MG2 (52-09SB @54, 60-10SB) Shafts: KBS Tour Custom Black 120 S Putter: TaylorMade Truss TB1 Grip: SuperStroke Pistol GT 1.0 PT Ball: TaylorMade TP5X (#1) Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Once upon a time you had to serve an apprenticeship on the PGA TOUR. If you were good enough to get amongst the big boys in your early 20s, your time was spent learning the ropes and staying out of the spotlight. Oh how times have changed. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where a not so long off the rookie shelf Xander Schauffele took on the world in China and conquered the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and a brand-new rookie in Cameron Champ delivered on the potential many had already highlighted he had at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Here are five observations and insights into another weekend full of youthful exuberance and excellence. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Xander Schauffele set a pretty high standard in his rookie season in 2016-17 — winning twice, including at the TOUR Championship. When he failed to win last season some quickfire takes concluded the youngster maybe overachieved in his rookie season … but such thoughts were short-sighted. You don’t always have to win to prove your worth. Schauffele returned to East Lake to defend his title last season, no mean feat. He did it with the help of two runner up finishes and two further third place results. He contended at two of the majors and THE PLAYERS. Clearly he is the real deal. And quite frankly, not winning last season might have been what he needed because he loves to play with a chip on his shoulder. He loves to feel like people don’t expect much from him, much like Brooks Koepka. “People can say whatever they want, but you know, my team and I, we know that we’re doing the right things, and it feels good to know that. It just feels good to win again,â€� Schauffele said after coming back from three shots down on Sunday to beat Tony Finau in a playoff. He just turned 25 — now there is a bright future on the horizon. 2. Anyone other than Tony Finau might be over this by now. Another runner up finish on the PGA TOUR, and this one in a playoff where he could taste the victory. From day one he was in the mix. And the three-shot lead he took into the final round in China had most thinking the patience and poise he’d displayed in his 11 top-10s last season — including three runner ups — was paying off. There was no doubt he had some Sunday nerves — his start was a little off and back-to-back bogeys on 11 and 12 had the smell of a Sunday slide. But impressively he bounced back and when he needed a birdie on the 72nd hole he produced it. His drive on the playoff was not his best but he was also a little unlucky to draw the lie he did. In the end he came up fractionally short again. But as usual he took it with grace and saw it as another learning experience. Another win for this man to go with his 2016 Puerto Rico Open is just around the corner, and it won’t stop there. “Definitely feel like I let one get away … It was cool to have a chance to win, a real chance to win, and I’ll definitely learn from this and keep moving forward,â€� Finau said. 3. It was an impressive title defense from Justin Rose in China. The FedExCup champion tried valiantly but just couldn’t muster enough of a charge down the stretch. A final hole bogey made his challenge appear weaker than it was on the scoreboard — in actual fact he was going for the hail mary eagle to finish to add some more drama and wasn’t that far off having a chance at it. While the game is getting younger and younger Rose continues to show the path for those closer to 40 than 20. He was a youth prodigy himself before battling through a huge slump at the beginnings of his career. Now look at him. The defending FedExCup champion who now once again threatens the world No. 1 slot. 4. Cameron Champ is just that: A champ. He’s barely into his career and he took out the Sanderson Farms Championship in style. The rookie proved that while he is the bomber off the tee we have heard so much about for a few years now, he is also much more than that. His putter proved more than capable in the big moments and his win came with an old driver after he cracked his gamer in his Sunday warmup. Perhaps the most impressive part of the win was his ability to turn things around mid-round. Champ lost a four-shot lead on the front nine on Sunday. You’d forgive most rookies for something similar — as it is usually part of the learning process. But instead of slinking away completely, Champ rallied and recovered in style. Once Corey Conners squared him up, Champ went on the offensive to great effect. He would end up making birdie on five of his last six holes to finish off an awesome effort and four-shot win. 5. It was another successful Asian Swing on the PGA TOUR with some impressive golf giving a handful of players a huge boost early in this new season. It is now very probable that winners Marc Leishman (CIMB Classic), Brooks Koepka (CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES) and Schauffele (WGC–HSBC Champions) will all be huge contenders for the FedExCup come playoff time. As each passing year goes by those who take the plunge into Asia are getting more and more reward. Word of mouth spreads fast with the players, and the hospitality shown in Malaysia, Korea and China has been impeccable. Don’t be surprised to see an even bigger swell in quality of fields next season. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Schauffele’s win moves him to No. 1 in the FedExCup. He’s looking to make it three for three in making the TOUR Championship since joining the TOUR. He was third in the FedExCup in 2017 and 15th in 2018. He now has three career wins in 60 starts. 2. Schauffele was the only player in the field in China to shoot in the 60s in the third and fourth rounds. He hit 11-of-14 fairways, 15-of-18 greens in regulation and hit 29 putts in his final round. For the week he hit 25-of-56 fairways, 49-of-72 greens in regulation and hit 104 putts. 3. Champ ranked second in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Putting for the week at Sanderson Farms, becoming the 22nd winner on TOUR (since 2004 where ShotLink lasers were used) to rank inside the top two in both categories on the way to victory. A total of 86 percent of his total strokes gained for the week were a result of both his off the tee and on the green performances at the Country Club of Jackson. 4. Champ led the field in Driving Distance (All-Drives) averaging 308 yards off the tee. He hit eight drives of 340 yards or longer becoming the 42nd winner on TOUR to do so in the ShotLink era (since 2003). 5. In the final round, Champ made more than 114 feet of putts, a career high. He made a total of 28 birdies for the week, marking the most of any player by six. He converted over 50 percent of his birdies when hitting a green in regulation. Champ missed only eight putts from 15 feet and in going 66-of-74 (89 percent) for the week. WYNDHAM REWARDS The Top 10 players at the end of the FedExCup regular season will benefit from the Wyndham Rewards program. Xander Schauffele takes top spot this week courtesy of his win at the WGC–HSBC Champions while Cameron Champ jumps up from 72nd to sixth after winning the Sanderson Farms Championship. Runner up in China — Tony Finau — is the other new arrival inside the top 10 with a move to seventh.
