Bubba Watson holes out for eagle, wins dramatic finish at WGC-HSBC Champions

Bubba Watson, in a bunker on the 72nd hole of the WGC-HSBC Champions, stopped himself mid-swing after a photographer clicked in the wrong place and, instead of pulling a Bubba, calmly knocked the ball onto the green and watched it roll in for an eagle.

Watson, who began the PGA Tour event in China vowing to overcome his notorious temper, appeared on his way to an easy victory Sunday when he bogeyed the 16th and double-bogeyed the 17th. The three on the par-5 18th put him back in the hunt by forcing a playoff with Tim Clark.

A long birdie putt on the first playoff hole gave the two-time Masters champion his first win of the young 2014-2015 season.

This is Bubba’s seventh PGA Tour career win, and because it’s a World Golf Championship, it’s technically also a Euro Tour event, a circuit where he’s never won. This counts as a victory with FedExCup points towards the 2014-15 PGA Tour schedule. The victory is the temperamental, two-time major winner’s third title in this calendar year -- the best of his career.

While it may not have the notoriety of the other three WGC events played earlier in the year in the United States, it’s still a WGC title. The field is deep, with players from across the globe, and the purse is just as rich as the other three. Bubba walked away with $1.4 million of the $8.5 million purse. It’s probably the biggest non-Masters tournament he’s ever won, and he did it in the most dramatic and un-Bubba-like fashion.