Adam Scott fired in an eagle and three birdies in the first six holes to take the lead this morning in the final round of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, but he couldn’t sustain the pace, as Bubba Watson overran a hot field to win by a shot.
It’s hard to comprehend how such a class golfer like Scott can be so hot, then throw in a double bogey at the eighth and two more three-putt bogeys on the homeward nine, yet birdie the 17th and 18th – two very difficult holes – to fall a shot shy.
Shades of watching Greg Norman.
On the other side of the coin, this is a new-look Bubba Watson.
Gone are the days when he tries to something heroic against all odds to lose. He must be viewed as the equal of Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, and Rickie Fowler when it comes to the majors this year.
Spieth carded a career-worst 79 in the opening round of this tournament, with his second-round 68 not good enough to make the cut.
McIlroy eagled the first to grab a share of the lead, but with bogeys at 4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, and 16 he was out of contention in a hurry. He birdied the last to finish nine shots off the Watson pace.
The surprise packet in the final group was 30-year-old Jason Kokrak, a mountain of a man who continually out-drove Bubba. Kokrak finished level with Scott, having missed a couple of metre-long putts that proved costly. He’s been around for a while – this was his 111th PGA tournament without a win – and he came so close.
Expect a lot more good golf from the second Aussie in contention, Marc Leishman.
He played in the same group as Scott and McIlroy and finished high on the leaderboard, with a final-round 69 that included three birdies and a bogey – he was consistent.
Also in the mix all day were Dustin Johnson and the veteran KJ Choi, who played some superb golf, especially in the front nine, with four birdies in the first six holes to have a share of the lead. But a string of pars were offset by two bogeys on the way home to dent his card.
There were really only eight in contention all day, with Chez Reavie the eighth. He was way short off the tee, and played his approach-shots first. But despite the pressure, the 34-year-old hung in there to record his first top-ten finish in four years.
The Northern Trust Open leaderboard
15-under – Bubba Watson 66 68 67 68
14-under – Adam Scott 68 68 67 67, Jason Kokrak 68 64 70 68
13-under – Dustin Johnson 68 66 68 69, Marc Leishman 68 67 68 69
12-under – KJ Choi 68 67 67 69
11-under – Chez Reavie 66 67 69 71
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