Golf:American Bubba Watson moves up 15 spots to 18th in the world golf rankings after his one-stroke victory over fellow left-hander Phil Mickelson at Torrey Pines in California last night.
Watson sunk a birdie putt on the final hole which left Mickelson needing an eagle. But his approach went just past the hole and Watson was able to celebrate a second career title.
Watson said: “It showed I can do it. I’ve done it twice now. I’m only 50 behind Phil and about 80 behind Tiger. So they better watch out.”
Watson made important putts on the last two holes, including a 12-foot birdie at the 18th, for a five-under 67 to win, Mickelson was one shot behind when he chose to lay up from the rough on the 18th.
Watson sank his birdie putt and Mickelson’s shot went just past the hole but failed to spin back in. Mickelson, joint overnight leader with Bill Haas who faded out of contention, closed with a 69.
Mickelson said: “I’m disappointed. I wanted to start the year off with a win. On the other hand, I played really good golf.”
Watson finished at 16-under 272 for his second victory against a much stronger field than his play-off win at the Travelers Championship last summer. An emotional Watson hugged his wife Angie as he told CBS: “I’ll probably cry all day. Just like last time. My dad’s not here. I love you mom.”
Watson’s father had died of cancer a few months after his win at Hartford last year. At Torrey Pines Watson made six birdies and just one bogie on his way to a 67 as he held off Mickelson, Jhonattan Vegas and DA Points.
Vegas and Points saw their challenges fade when both found the water on the final hole to fall back. Dustin Johnson and Nick Watney shot 66 and 63 respectively but overnight co-leader Bill Haas shot a 75 to tie for ninth.
Anthony Kim (72) and newly-wed Hunter Mahan (73) were both within one or two shots of the lead on the front nine but dropped back to tie sixth with Nick Watney, who shot 63. Tiger Woods admitted he had work to do after finishing 44th.
Woods saw his five-tournament winning streak at the course come to an end as his season debut went badly and he failed to birdie any of the par fives for the second time in the tournament as he shot a three-over-par round of 75 to finish.
The former world number one said: “I have some work to do. There’s no doubt about that.”
Woods had previously won seven times at Torrey Pines, including the 2008 US Open, but he was out of the top 40 come the end of his final round. Woods struggled with his putting as he missed several birdie shots.
He admitted: “I hit it as pure as I could possibly hit it starting out, and got nothing out of it.”
Latest world rankings:
1 Lee Westwood 8.75pts, 2 Martin Kaymer 8.14, 3 Tiger Woods 6.97, 4 Phil Mickelson 6.49, 5 Graeme McDowell6.46, 6 Paul Casey 6.38, 7 Steve Stricker 6.03, 8 Rory McIlroy5.94, 9 Jim Furyk 5.53, 10 Luke Donald 5.44
11 Ernie Els 5.23, 12 Ian Poulter 5.08, 13 Matt Kuchar 4.86, 14 Dustin Johnson 4.69, 15 Retief Goosen 4.50, 16 Robert Karlsson 4.43, 17 Francesco Molinari 4.42, 18 Bubba Watson 4.14, 19 Louis Oosthuizen 4.00, 20 Edoardo Molinari 3.86
Other leading Europeans:
23 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 31 Justin Rose, 32 Padraig Harrington,34 Peter Hanson, 35 Ross Fisher, 46 Alvaro Quiros, 49 Martin Laird, 54 Henrik Stenson, 57 Matteo Manassero, 65 Anders Hansen, 67 Simon Dyson, 73 Rhys Davies, 74 Stephen Gallacher, 75 Danny Willett, 76 Fredrik Andersson Hed, 78 Brian Davis, 80 Sergio Garcia, 88 Soren Kjeldsen, 89 Chris Wood, 90 Carl Pettersson, 93 David Horsey, 94 Oliver Wilson, 96 Jamie Donaldson, 99 Joost Luiten
