Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson completed his 2015 season with a dominant win, triumphing in the Tiger Woods-hosted Hero World Challenge in Bahamas by three shots on Sunday.
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Watson, who stepped in to become a part of the tournament following the late withdrawal of Jason Day, made the most of his trip which comes on the heels of adopting a second child recently.
The new dad made just one bogey during the final round of the $3.5 million tournament, limited only to 18 invited players from inside the top 50 of the world rankings, and shot a six-under par 66 to finish on 25-under par 263.
Bubba Watson is your winner at the Hero World Challenge. #QuickHits https://t.co/B2pkvUUbF9
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 6, 2015
American Patrick Reed shot his second successive six-under par 66 round over the weekend to finish runner-up on 22-under par 266, while Rickie Fowler, who closed with an eight-under par 64 round, was third at 21-under par. World No. 1 Jordan Spieth (67), who won last year with a record score of 26-under par, was fourth at 20-under par 268.
World No. 4 Watson, winner of Travelers Championship earlier this year, started the final day two ahead of England’s Paul Casey, and put up an exhibition of ball-striking.
He missed just one fairway and two greens the whole day. The only time he appeared to be in some trouble early in his round was on the par-5 11th hole when his second shot went into native area and left him with an extremely difficult pitch shot, he hit a peach of a shot to three feet and still made one of his seven birdies there.
A bogey on the 18th did not affect the result in any way, except that Watson could not match Spieth’s record for the lowest winning total in the tournament.
Bubba Watson wanted to shape it out of this lie. Sounds like it was “perfect.” #QuickHits https://t.co/KCOhK3yZKe
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 6, 2015
Spieth, who finally brought the curtains down on an unforgettable year in which he won two majors and five titles in all, said: “There was no disappointment. As I was telling Michael (Greller, his caddie) 46-under for last two years is a great score. Doesn’t matter where you finish, it means you have played well.
“I needed to shoot more than nine-under par for the weekend and I didn’t so, hats off to Bubba for the way he played. But I am delighted with the year that I have had.”
England’s Justin Rose, who is a member of Albany Club after moving to the Bahamas earlier this year, finally produced a round worthy of someone who is well-versed with the intricacies of the golf course.
Rose made five birdies on either halves of the golf course to finish with a 10-under par 62 round, to establish a new course record. Three-under par after three rounds, the 35-year-old Englishman finished on 13-under par.
Indian star Anirban Lahiri continued to struggle on the greens and shot an even-par 72 round.
