In addition to winning the first PGA Tour event of his career, University of Georgia alum Bubba Watson set new standards for honesty following his victory at last week's Travelers Championship. Unlike most of his colleagues, who rarely confess to being anything less than cool and calm most of the time, Watson admitted he was a mess while waiting to knock in the three-foot putt on the second playoff hole to win the tournament.
“I couldn’t take a breath,” Watson said. “When I bent down to get behind it like I was lining it up, I was trying to breathe. All I remember is, I’m supposed to rock this way and rock that way and the putt hopefully goes in. And it went in. That’s the dead-honest truth. I couldn’t feel my arms, I was so nervous.”
Watson, 31, became the ninth first-time winner on the PGA Tour this season. It also gave him one more victory this season than frequent practice round partner Tiger Woods. He came from six shots behind third-round leader Justin Rose, recording the largest comeback on Tour this season.
“I shot 4-under [on Sunday]. There’s no way that wins,” Watson said. “For me getting in the playoff after shooting 4-under was just unreal and then to actually somehow make that par putt to win was unreal.”
Just as unreal was the 396-yard drive that Watson unleashed on the 72nd hole that left him inside 50 yards to the pin. He wedged it close and made a birdie that got him into the playoff.
The victory moved Watson to 13th on the Ryder Cup points list, one spot behind Stewart Cink. Watson also jumped to eighth on the FedEx Cup points list.
LPGA
Cristie Kerr is the first American woman to be No. 1 in the Rolex World Golf Rankings after her impressive victory at the LPGA Championship. Kerr led wire-to-wire and won by a tournament-record 12 strokes.
“Winning by two or three is great, but winning by 12 is ridiculous. It’s obscene,” said Kerr, who won her second major championship.
Kerr became the fifth player to hold the No. 1 spot since the rankings began in 2006, following Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa, Jiyai Shin and Ai Miyazato. She is the first American to win the LGPA Championship since Juli Inkster in 2000.
Etc.
Recent Georgia Tech graduate Chesson Hadley tied for second at the eGolf Tour's Bushnell Championship in Southern Pines, N.C. Hadley was playing only his second tournament as a professional and led by two shots going into the final round, but was passed by Jason Kokrak's final-round 67. Hadley earned nearly $15,000 for the effort, which should help upgrade his honeymoon. He gets married in less than three weeks. Brian Harman of Savannah and Jonathan Fricke, a former Nationwide Tour player from Covington, were among the six players who tied for 10th. ...
T. Wayne Watts of the Golf Club at Cuscowilla in Eatonton is one of 21 PGA professionals who earned a certificate in instruction from the PGA of America's Certified Professional Program. ... Brookhaven resident Billy Andrade, who has always played a Titleist ball, switched to the five-piece TaylorMade Penta at the Travelers Championship. ... Barnsley Gardens in Adairsville was ranked as the third-best course in the Southeast by Conde Nast Traveler magazine.
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