With Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, and Phil Mickelson upset on Day 1 of match play, it would be easy to overlook Wednesday’s sparkling play of Bubba Watson at the WGC Dell Match Play.
Bubba Watson birdies his way to convincing win at WGC Match Play
Bubba rounds into form ahead of the Masters, the first day of match play was filled with upsets as Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, and Phil Mickelson all fell to their opening opponents.
But, with the Masters on the horizon, that would be a mistake. After all, it’s an even-numbered year and you know what that means — Watson is going to win at Augusta, as he did in 2012 and 2014.
Sure, oddsmakers have him at 25-1 to shrug into his third green jacket and his last effort in a year divisible by two ended in a T37 finish. But Watson’s game — which had been MIA for two years until he won the Genesis Open last month at Riviera, where he posted his last win in 2016 — is suddenly sizzling just in time for the men’s first major of the season.
Exhibit A: Watson’s six birdies in his first nine holes — including four in a row to start his match — on his way to a 5 and 3 pummeling of Branden Grace that was not nearly so close as the score might suggest.
“It was perfect. You couldn’t ask for more,” Watson said after closing out Grace. “I felt like McIlroy on Sunday, when he started birdieing all those holes at Bay Hill … Making putts, that’s the key to everybody’s success.”
Being healthy, as Tiger Woods can attest, is also critical to prosperity on the PGA Tour. And Watson, after going 0-for-2017 that included his first missed cut at the Masters, is fit and robust after battling unnamed maladies that caused the loss of weight and vigor.
“I didn’t have the energy, I couldn’t hit the balls as far as I wanted to or the numbers that I thought. And I didn’t have the energy with a lot of that stuff going on,” Bubba said after a 2-under 70 in the first round at Bay Hill. “So, yeah, it affected the way I played for sure.”
After slamming a 373-yard drive on the par-4 ninth at Austin (Texas) Country Club, it would appear Watson is back to full strength.
As is his self-assurance, which is crucial to his efforts at Augusta.
“I always have confidence there,” Watson said from Bay Hill. “It’s in perfect shape, you know what to expect … a lot of the holes are shaped the way I like it. If you leave it in the right spot, you can putt. So I always have confidence going there, I always look forward to it.”
Which, if his opening match in Austin is any indication, may be bad news for the oddsmakers’ favorite, Woods, who’s seeking his 15th major and fifth Masters win; McIlroy, who hopes to capture his first Masters and complete the career grand slam; and the rest of the players in the talent-rich field.
As for some of those other golfers, many of whom are competing in their final tuneup before Augusta, here’s how their Wednesdays went:
- Bernd Wiesberger defeated DJ, 3 and 1 — The defending champion, world No. 1, and the tourney’s top seed, was shockingly out of sorts, posting a quadruple bogey-9, a pair of doubles, and three bogeys that added up to 9-over. That’s after finding just five of 13 fairways and making one putt longer than four feet, according to PGATour.com.
- Justin Thomas defeated Luke List, 2 up — While Thomas emerged victorious, thanks in no small part to his miraculous shot from the deep stuff in a hazard on No. 9 — and he made the par-saving putt.
But the story of this match was List’s use of a lob wedge on the last 11 greens after what he called a “stupid” act of hitting his putter at a bush that had a wall behind it, and bending it out of shape.
- Jordan Spieth defeated Charl Schwartzel, 2 and 1, and Patrick Reed defeated Haotong Li, 3 and 2 — Both victories assured that the duo’s much-anticipated head-to-head match (on Friday after Reed dissed his Ryder Cup partner Sunday at Bay Hill) will be must-see TV.
- Peter Uihlein defeated McIlroy, 2 and 1 — McIlroy showed off his API-winning form when he made five straight birdies starting on No. 12. Unfortunately for him, it was too little, too late, as Uihlein, despite what appeared to be late-game nerves, held on to stun his opponent.
- Charles Howell III defeated Mickelson, 3 and 2 — With just one birdie on his scorecard, Mickelson’s streak of 10 straight match-play wins on day one, according to PGATour.com, came to an end.
- Sergio Garcia defeated Shubhankar Sharma, 1 up — This match was remarkable for Garcia’s unusual shot from the cart path in his stocking feet on the 12th that had Golf Channel broadcaster Nick Faldo wondering, “Why? Why? Why? Why?”
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