Weekly Tour Wrapup: Not Quite So Elementary for Watson

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

YOU can say what you like about Bubba Watson - and he is not everybody's cup of tea - but there is no denying that he is capable of producing some astonishing golf shots.

On his way to winning the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, he hit one of the shots of the year at the par-five 13th. He put his drive into a bunker on the left side of the fairway, with the ball close to the lip.  He was 220 yards from a green protected by a pond, but pulled out a five iron and rifled the ball to the heart of the putting surface - he didn't disturb a single grain of sand.

The ball came to rest 40 feet from the hole. Guess what? He drained it for an eagle to move to 17 under par, three ahead of England's Paul Casey and Brian Harman, four in front of Graham DeLaet. And in that moment the tournament was over. Or was it?

Casey, who holed his second for an eagle at the third, had birdied the 14th to go 15 under but gave it back at the reachable 15th to trail by three. But, to his eternal credit, Casey almost holed in one at the par three 16th and tapped in for a birdie to move back to 15 under and reduce his deficit to two shots.

The Englishman has come close on a couple of occasions this season, but he is desperate to finish the job off and taste victory on the PGA Tour again. And he moved to within a shot of Watson with a brilliant birdie at the 17th before a par at the 18th for a magnificent round of 65.

Behind him, Watson bunkered another drive and this time he dropped a shot at the 17th, so he came to the final hole tied with Casey. A par sent them off to extra holes. First time around they both made pars but when they played it again Casey found a greenside bunker, from where he cleared the green by fully 50 yards. Game over. Title to Watson.

PGA Tour Video Highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4GqoI18Wrs

Larrazabal Wins 2nd BMW International Open

Pablo Larrazabal, one of the most popular players on the European Tour, produced a bogey-free final round of 66 to win the BMW International Open for the second time.

The Spaniard, who is one of the most expressive players on Tour, shot a 66, which was good enough to beat Henrik Stenson by a shot at Golfclub Munchen Elchenried.

Larrazabal, who has had an erratic year to date, finished with a 17-under-par total of 271. He had five birdies on the front nine and a crucial birdie on the 16th as he recorded his fourth European Tour victory.

Stenson started the day well adrift of third-round leader Morrison, but five birdies and an eagle saw him climb the leaderboard and he finished with a superb round of 65. Morrison, the 30-year-old Englishman, had a day to forget, shooting a dreadful 77 as he failed to win his second tournament of the season.

Larrazabal won this tournament in 2011 when he defeated Sergio Garcia in a playoff. This was hist first success on the European Tour since the 2014 Abu Dhabi championship, when he saw off the challenges of Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy.

Englishman Chris Paisley closed with a round of 71 to finish third on 15 under par, while two-time US Open Champion Retief Goosen (67) shared fourth place on 14 under par with Spaniard Carlos Del Moral (69) and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat (68).

Paisley came into the week 145th on The Race to Dubai, but climbed to 77th with his cheque for €125,200 after recording his first top-ten finish on the European Tour.

Larrazabal was thrilled.  "Every win is special, but this place, from the first time I arrived to this golf course, it's something that suits my eye.  It suits my eye from the tee and on second shots and on the greens," he said.

“I am lucky, winning four times, and three very special ones, because obviously I have won this one twice."

European Tour Video Highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2na6Xr-bQx4

US Senior Open

Colin Montgomerie shot a final round of 66 in the US Senior Open but came up just short in his bid to successfully defend the title he won in such brilliant style 12 months ago.

The tournament was won by Jeff Maggert, who drove the ball superbly all day. The 51-year-old never looked to be in trouble. He came close to winning the US Open several times without being able to finish the job but if he continues in this vein you can be certain that this will not be his last senior major victory.

Meanwhile on the Challenge Tour,  Jack Senior won the SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge after a four-hole, sudden-death playoff.

The 26 year old eagled the par four ninth hole at Spey Valley Golf Club  and birdied the 13th and 16th  before holing a 15 foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to secure a playoff with compatriot Robert Coles and Thailand’s Prom Meesawat.

They returned to the 18th three times but a winner could not be determined so they moved to the first where Senior’s drive almost found the par four green. With Meesawat and Coles playing their second shots to 25 and 20 feet respectively, Senior knew he had a great chance if he could land his chip close and he responded by hitting it six inches from the hole for a winning birdie.

With the pressure on again, the former Walker Cup player responded brilliantly again as he flopped his chip to just six inches.