‘Bubba’licious

For the second week in a row on Sunday on the PGA Tour there was a Vegas and a Gary battling in contention for the title. Jhonattan Vegas, last week’s winner at the Hope, played spectacularly once again putting himself in the second to last group in he final round of the 2011 Farmers Insurance Open at famed Torrey Pines in LaJolla, CA. After defeating Gary Woodland in a playoff and capturing his first ever PGA title, Vegas was once again staring a Gerry in the face…Gerry Watson, aka ‘Bubba.’ Oh, and there was this other guy in contention making his first start of the season, some local guy by the name Phil Mickelson.

And while those three gentlemen stole the show on Sunday, the biggest story to start the week was the return of Tiger to competitive action. He performed well early in the tournament posting a bogey free three under par 69 on the North Course in his opening round and matching that 69 on his return to the South Course where he clinched the ’08 US Open. But the weekend took its toll on the ‘Striped One’ as he faded with back to back over par rounds (74 / 75) to finish T44 at one under par.

As round four began Mickelson and last weeks co-runner-up Bill Haas were tied for the lead, one shot up on Hunter Mahan and Bubba Watson with Jhonny Vegas and Anthony Kim in close proximity. Haas, Mahan and Kim all struggled out of the gate and failed to get anything going early and shot themselves out of the tournament as the back nine progressed. It became a virtual three horse race and provided great entertainment for the entire afternoon. It was a birdie festival and as the final two groups made there way to the 18th tee, Watson held a one shot lead on both Vegas and Mickelson (as Mickelson poured in a birdie on the 17th green to a cadagoric eruption).

After smashed drives from the long hitting Vegas and longer hitting Watson on the par 5 18th both players were poised to hit the green in two. After not so solid contact with a five iron Vegas screamed at his ball to ‘go’ as it flew through the air, only to come up well short into the Bruce Devlin pond saturating any chance he had at the tournament. Watson was also errant with his iron shot short siding himself left on the down-slope of the greenside bunker. He hit a very good blast, but still had 15 feet of so to secure the birdie and two shot lead. All the while, in the final grouping, Mickelson was deep in the left rough and had to lay-up to 72 yards short of the pond. As he walked up the fairway he watched on as Watson hit the putt of the tournament by curling in the slippery birdie putt to get this lefty two shots clear of the ‘Lefty.’

From there Phil knew he had to knock it in from the fairway just to force a playoff. He walked all the way to the green to survey the situation, and after a few minutes of deliberation, he made an unconventional move by sending Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay to the green to tend the pin to prevent the ball from hitting the stick and bouncing out of the cup. With supreme concentration he made a perfect swing and posed as the ball propelled through the SoCal air hit some eight feet passed the pin and spun to just inside five feet before coming to a halt and securing Watson’s victory. The birdie placed Mickelson in second alone, not bad for his first start of the 2011 season.

As for Watson, this victory was his second career win and consequently both were insurance company sponsored tournaments (see 2010 Travelers). The win does not fill the void of losing out to Martin Kaymer in a playoff in last years PGA Championship, but it definitely is a start. It was an emotional win for Bubba as he became misty-eyed describing how losing his Dad last year has been a big inspiration in his career. The win gets him into the 2011 Masters field for the third time in his career, and is a great start to the Fedex Cup season as he also eyes a very attainable spot on the Presidents Cup team. Another great win for this long hitting fan-friendly pro…just not the fan’s #1…he finished #2.