By Ron Green Jr. of Global Golf Post

For all of his flamboyance, Bubba Watson had become an afterthought on the PGA Tour during the past year, gradually playing his way out of the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking. It wasn’t just that the two-time Masters champion hadn’t won since the 2016 Genesis Open at Riviera. It’s that he rarely had been in the conversation on PGA Tour weekends.

He lost weight, getting down as low as 170 pounds, and Watson’s focus seemed to wane, which he long ago acknowledged was a problem. Whether it was focus or motivation or something else, Watson wasn’t the same Bubba.

But whatever it is about Riviera – he says it’s the way the grand old layout forces him to focus – Watson looked like his old self in grinding out a victory on Sunday when multiple players had a chance to win.

The swing that did it for Watson was a bunker shot he holed at the par-3 14th hole that suddenly gave him a two-stroke advantage, the kind of cushion no one else had during the back-and-forth final round. It was one of three birdies Watson made on the final nine holes as he held off his challengers. It was Watson’s 10th PGA Tour victory.

Na was in position to win for just the second time but consecutive bogeys at the difficult par-4 12th and 13th holes thwarted his bid. Bogeys at 12 and 13 also did in Patrick Cantlay, who finished three strokes behind.

Driver: Ping G400 LST (8.5 degrees)
Shaft: Grafalloy Bi-Matrix Pink X-Flex

5 Wood: Ping G400 (17.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Motore Speeder 8.2 VC Tour Spec

Hybrid: Ping G (19 degrees)
Shaft: Matrix Ozik Altus Hybrid X

Irons: Ping iBlade (2), Ping S55 (4-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Ping Glide 2.0 (52-12 SS, 56-12 SS, 60-06 TS)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Putter: Ping Anser 303SS
Grip: Ping Pistol

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Republished with permission from Global Golf Post