Tearful Bubba Watson lands the Genesis Open title
There were tears of joy for Bubba Watson as he celebrated winning his 10th PGA Tour title at the Genesis Open.
Final round leaders
-12 Bubba Watson
-10 Kevin Na, Tony Finau
-8 Adam Hadwin, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith
Final round report
There were tears of joy for Bubba Watson as he celebrated winning his 10th PGA Tour title.
His first victory in two years, the American finished the Genesis Open in California on 12-under, two shots ahead of countrymen Kevin Na and Tony Finau. He is 28/1 with Sky Bet to win the US Masters at Augusta.
Scotsman Martin Laird tied in ninth, while Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy tied for 20th, despite a strong final round.
It was a moment to savour at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, for Watson, 39, who had considered retiring due to concerns over his physical ability.
Overcome with emotion, he told CBS: "It means a lot, my goal was always to get 10 wins and this got me to my 10th win. There's so many emotions going around my head right now. You never know if you're going to play good again, you never know if you're going to be able to lift a trophy again."
Watson's final round saw two birdies and three bogeys before the turn, although he pulled ahead with a trio of birdies on the back nine to secure a two-under round of 69.
The Floridian's strongest performance in round three, a six-under round of 65, had powered him to a one-shot lead for the final day.
After his 10th PGA Tour open win, the third at the Riviera, Watson paid tribute to his family and caddie Ted Scott.
"I've mentioned it (retirement) about 10, 12 times to my wife, we've sat down and had may talks about it because physically I wasn't where I needed to be to keep continuing to play," he said.
"Obviously God's given me a gift to play golf and I'm not good at anything else."
Four-time major winner McIlroy ended the tournament with a 68 to follow rounds of 71, 69 and 73 to finish on three-under, one shot behind fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell.
The 28-year-old McIlroy has now gone 16 months without winning a tournament, but his performance at the Riviera Country Club was an improvement on the previous week when he missed the cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
McDowell had briefly shot to the top of the leaderboard after carding 66 in the second round, although the impressive performance was followed by rounds of 70 and 77.
Tiger Woods, who returned to the Riviera for the first time in 12 years, missed the cut after following an opening round of 72 with a disappointing 76 in the second.
Round three report
American Bubba Watson takes a one-shot lead into the final round of the Genesis Open after carding a six-under round of 65 on Saturday.
Watson, a two-time winner of the tournament and now 5/2 favourite with Sky Bet to add to that tally, began the day in sixth but started as he meant to go on with a second shot on the par-5 first landing within inches of the pin.
He holed the putt for eagle and went on to card five birdies - the sole blot on the book a bogey at the par-four 15th.
Patrick Cantlay (4/1), who held the joint lead at the half-way point in the tournament, leads the chasing pack. His round of 69 puts him a shot behind Watson on nine-under, while four players sit a shot further behind.
Graeme McDowell - who was sitting top of the tree after Friday - shot a one-under round and fell to eight-under for the tournament, alongside Tony Finau, Kevin Nau and Cameron Smith.
Third-favourite Dustin Johnson (13/2) played himself into contention with a round of 64, jumping 45 places up the leaderboard and into tied for eighth.
Starting on the back nine, Johnson began steady carding a birdie, but went on to pick up shots on the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th, and an eagle on the 1st.
Rory McIlroy, who missed the cut at last week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, fell to par for the tournament after a round of 73, which included a double bogey in the par-4 12th.
Round two report
Graeme McDowell charged up the leaderboard to take a share of the lead at the Genesis Open but Patrick Canlay is 4/1 favourite with Sky Bet.
Northern Ireland's McDowell carded seven birdies in a five-under round of 66 to shoot up the leaderboard and is now into 12/1 to lift the trophy.
McDowell, 38, sat tied for 17th after the first day's play in California on 69, and opened Friday's round with three birdies in a row.
He dropped a shot on each of the 13th and 14th and was two-under at the turn, but rallied with three more birdies including a 54-foot putt on the par-3 4th to go joint first.
Play was suspended on the second round due to bad light, with American Sam Saunders (12/1) tied for the lead through 15 on seven-under.
They are joined at the top of the tree by American Cantlay who followed his round of 66 with a 69.
He went through the back nine on equal par but picked up shots including a 31-foot for birdie on the par-3 6th.
Ryan Moore (10/1) sits one shot behind in fourth after scoring 68 for the second day in a row, while Americans Tony Finau (10/1) and Scott Stallings (25/1) are on five-under and tied for fifth, with Stallings due to play the final two holes of his second round tomorrow.
Tiger Woods, returning to the Riviera Country Club for the first time in 12 years, missed the cut after following a round of 72 with a disappointing 76 on Friday.
His round included three birdies, including the sinking of a 21-foot putt on the par-4 5th, but he dropped shots on four of the last eight holes.
Rory McIlroy, who missed the cut at last week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, sits tied for 15th after going round in 69, two under for the round and the tournament.
Round one report
Patrick Canlay is 9/1 favourite for the Genesis Open with Sky Bet after a first round in which the big guns failed to fire.
Tiger Woods (80/1) finished six shots off the lead after returning to the Riviera Country Club for the first time in 12 years.
The former world number one started with a birdie at the 10th after a neat wedge approach and well-judged putt, but dropped three shots over the next two holes. He pulled shots back at 13 and 17, either side of a bogey at 15, and a birdie at the first was followed by bogey at the fifth. A bogey-birdie-par finish meant a score of one over par and a steady start to the event in California.
The former world number one was playing with Rory McIlroy (18/1) and Justin Thomas (12/1) and all three birdied their opener, McIlroy holing from a bunker.
Thomas gave the shot back at the 13th but picked up another at 17, when he initially appeared disgusted with his over-hit putt before stopping in surprise when it clattered the back of the hole and dropped. He recovered from two dropped shots with two birdies in his last three holes to finish two under.
McIlroy carded an even-par 71 in the opening round after failing to make the cut at last week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He dropped shots at 11, 12 and 17 but eagled the first hole, having learned from Thomas' under-hit effort.
He parred his way in from there but was left in the shadows by fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell, who matched Thomas' two-under-par round after three birdies and just a solitary bogey at the 13th.
Day one went to Cantlay and Tony Finau (10/1), who share the lead after carding rounds of five-under 66. Finau had four birdies in his first five holes, making just one bogey on the par-three fourth hole. Cantlay, returning after a long-term injury, himself shot a bogey on the fourth, but recovered with six birdies in total, including a 31-foot putt on the par-four seventh hole.
Bubba Watson (25/1), who carded a round of three-under 68, hit the shot of the day after nearly making an ace from a 181-yard tee shot on the par-three sixth hole.
Of Ben Coley's pre-tournament selections, 80/1 fancy Jason Kokrak is into 33s and sits two off the pace while Tryone van Aswegen (350/1) is tied 21st after an opening 70.
Round one was later suspended due to darkness with 13 players yet to finish.
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