DORAL, Florida (AP) ― Bubba Watson hit one shot over the green and off the tower. Another shot hit a fan in the gallery. As wild as it looked at time, he never lost control of his game and he never lost the lead Saturday in the Cadillac Championship.
Watson raced off to an eagle-birdie start, then survived a few errant shots coming home on the Blue Monster for a 5-under 67, giving him a three-shot lead and putting him on the verge of his first World Golf Championship.
Bubba Watson waits his turn on the 18th green on Saturday. (AP-Yonhap News)
“All in all, it was a great day,” he said.
His optimism was tempered not so much by the few guys chasing him, rather a golf course that for Watson remains an acquired taste.
“The challenge is the Blue Monster,” Watson said.
It was more of a pushover in moderate wind, with Rory McIlroy thinking about a 59 with six holes to play, Tiger Woods making an early charge up the leaderboard and a dozen players signing for a 67 or better.
Watson was at 17-under 199.
He will play in the final group Sunday with PGA champion Keegan Bradley, who had a bogey-free 66 and was at 14-under 202. Justin Rose was tied for the lead through 11 holes until Watson found his groove and Rose made too many mistakes. Rose three-putted from long range on the 18th for a 69, leaving him tied with Bradley but no longer in the final group.
“Three back, it’s a lot to Bubba on this golf course,” Rose said. “But at least there’s not a lot of guys ahead of you. There’s only one guy at 17 under, and the rest of the pack is right there, so it doesn’t take much.”
Indeed, only one other player was within five shots of the lead. Peter Hanson of Sweden nearly holed a bunker shot on the 18th hole and shot 69, leaving him at 12-under 204.
Matt Kuchar (66) and Zach Johnson (67) were another shot behind. Adam Scott looked as though he might give Watson a run until the Australian started missing short putts, the pulled his tee shot into the water on the 18th and made double bogey. Scott dropped four shots over the last three holes.
McIlroy played the last six holes in 2 over and still shot 65, while Woods failed to do much after his birdie-birdie-birdie start. He twice made bogey on the par 5s and shot 68. They were eight shots behind.
The wind has been decreasing since the opening round, and so have the scores.
McIlroy hit two fluffy wedges at the start of his round, but he atoned for the second one by chipping in for birdie, and away he went. McIlroy shot 30 on the front nine without making birdie on the two par 5s, then made up for that with a fairway metal into about 18 feet for an eagle on No. 10. That put him 10 under for the tournament, only two off the lead.
Watson was still on the practice range, though, and this was a day when just about everyone went low.
Still, for a short time it looked as though McIlroy and Woods were going to resume their golf from last week at the Honda Classic. McIlroy was walked down the 12th fairway when he could hear a big cheer next to him as Woods, who opened with three straight birdies, made another one at No. 6. That put him at 9 under.
Neither of them could keep it going the rest of the round.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
