WGC-Cadillac Championship 2012: Justin Rose Holds Off Rory McIlroy

Tiger Woods withdrew from the 2012 WGC-Cadillac Championship with an apparent leg injury. He played through 11 holes, hitting three bogeys before leaving the course in his car with his leg covered in ice packs.

Woods didn’t appear to be himself on Sunday, wincing through pain throughout the day and even switching golf shoes between the 9th and 10th holes. The last time he pulled out of a tournament was one year ago at the Players Championship.

We lost an hour due to Daylight Savings Time overnight, and I’m going to go ahead and assume Sergio Garcia’s Circadian rhythm is out of whack, because that’s the only explanation I can imagine for his truly dreadful start to his final round at the WGC Cadillac Championship.

Things started nicely -- he opened with an eagle on the Par 5 first hole -- but the wheels fell off when he hit a 12 on the Par 4 third hole.

Bubba Watson holds a three-shot lead heading into the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship after stringing together back-to-back solid rounds on Friday and Saturday. After an opening round 70, Watson stormed into the lead on Friday with a 10-under 62. He followed that up with a 5-under 67 on Saturday to get to 17-under for the tournament in a strong position ahead of Sunday’s final round.

Keegan Bradley and Justin Rose are each three shots back, tied for second at 14-under for the tournament. Further down the leaderboard, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are part of a six-way tie for eighth at 9-under for the tournament, well off the pace set by Watson.

Bubba Watson expanded his lead to two strokes over Justin Rose, shooting 4-under through the front nine on Saturday at the 2012 WGC-Cadillac Championship. He shot 3-under through his first two holes, and birdied three more times with two bogeys. Rose is also at 4-under on the day, and still sits one shot back from the lead.

Tiger Woods is now eight shots off the lead with only two more holes left to play. He shot 4-under through his first six holes, but has shot 1-over the rest of the way with three bogeys. He sits in a five-way tie for 14th at 8-under with the likes of Steve Stricker, Charles Howell III, Jason Dufner and Charl Schwartzel.

Bubba Watson holds a one-shot lead at the WGC-Cadillac Championship after an impressive 10-under 62 on Friday. The low round of the day brought Watson to 12-under for the tournament, vaulting him all the way up to the leaderboard and into first place, one clear of Justin Rose. The two will be paired together on Saturday in the final pairing of the third round.

Further down the leaderboard, Tiger Woods bounced back after an even-par first round, carding a 67 in the second to get to 5-under for the tournament. Woods, however, has plenty of work to do as he sits seven shots off the pace and in a tie for 15th. Rory McIlroy is still hovering around the middle of the leaderboard at 2-under for the tournament -- his first event since taking over the top spot in the world golf rankings.

Bubba Watson overtook Adam Scott atop the leaderboard at the 2012 WGC-Cadillac Championship on Friday, shooting 10-under for the round. He made birdie or eagle on 10 of 18 holes to finish up the day at 12-under overall, two strokes ahead of Scott. Justin Rose moved into second place with an 8-under round to move up to 11-under for the tournament.

Tiger Woods had a decent day, shooting 5-under. He slipped one stroke off the lead from where he started the day, though Watson was admittedly magnificent on Day 2. Woods birdied three of his first five holes, but he couldn’t quite maintain the blistering pace, recording birdies on two of his remaining 13 holes.

Adam Scott and Jason Dufner are on top at the WGC-Cadillac Championship after firing first-round 66s to open the tournament at 6-under par. The pair holds a two-shot advantage over the field, with Charl Schwartzel and Thomas Bjorn giving chase at 4-under. Further down the leaderboard, Tiger Woods is six back at even-par and Rory McIlroy is at 1-over for the tournament.

Coverage of Friday’s second round begins at 1 p.m. Eastern on the Golf Channel. The broadcast is scheduled to run until 6 p.m., catching most of the last groups’ entire rounds.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are tied for 25th on the leaderboard after one round of play at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Tiger and Mickelson both shot a 72 in the opening round at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral, in Doral, Fla.

Australia’s Adam Scott and Jason Dufner, from the U.S., are tied for the lead at 6-under. Starting on the back nine, both shot a 66 in the first round on Thursday. Scott is grouped with Mickelson and Hunter Mahan. Woods is playing alongside Nick Watney and Sergio Garcia.

Dustin Johnson hits the golf ball really hard and really far. He may not always have control over where it goes, but he’s surely going to hit it as hard as he can every time he takes a swing. If, however, he does happen to hit an errant shot, I’d assume it wouldn’t be pleasant to be in its path.

Johnson’s miss on Thursday was both frightening and amazing. On No. 18 at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Johnson’s drive was right all the way. It was so right that it had a bead on the crane housing a television camera and operator.

Tiger Woods is back in action again on Thursday, looking to build off his strong closing round in last week’s Honda Classic. Woods is part of a star-studded field in the WGC-Cadillac Championship, set to take the course at Doral’s Blue Monster. The golfers set to tee off in the first round are among the top in the Offial World Golf Rankings, creating what should be a competitive four days of golf.

Coverage of the first round begins at 1 p.m. Eastern, live on the Golf Channel. The coverage window is set to run until 6 p.m., coinciding with the end of the first round.

Rory McIlroy held off a charging Tiger Woods last week at the 2012 Honda Classic to win the tournament and overtake Luke Donald as the official No. 1 golfer in the world. On Thursday he will play his first tournament with the new ranking, taking on Woods, Donald and Co. at the 2012 WGC-Cadillac Championship in Doral, FL, for an $8.5 million purse.

Woods has won the tournament six times during his career, and will look to win a seventh title after shooting an 8-under 62 last Sunday. Last year’s winner, Nick Watney, also returns to defend his title. Phil Mickelson will play coming off a two-week break after sitting out the Honda Classic.