Bubb Watson continues to win golf tournaments sponsored by insurance companies. After winning the 2010 Travelers Championship, Watson won the Farmers Insurance Open in January and now can add the Zurich Classic to his insurance company sponsored tournament wins.
(Bubba Watson defeated Webb Simpson to earn his second PGA TOUR victory of 2011)
Watson and Webb Simpson went into the final round tied for the lead at 12-under par but a double bogey on the 9th gave Simpson a three stroke lead and what looked like his first career PGA TOUR victory. Watson recovered on the back by shooting 1-under par while Simpson caught an unfortunate break and penalized a stroke on the 15th hole. It was just the break Watson needed and the two finished tied at 3-under par for the final round and 15-under overall to force a playoff.
Replaying the 18th hole for the playoff, Simpson was unable to convert his 12-foot birdie putt leaving Watson a 3-foot putt for birdie and the win. Watson knocked it in and won his second tournament of the season.
With the win Watson earned $1,152,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points. The 500 points were enough for Bubba Watson to move into first place in the FedEx Cup Standings surpassing Mark Wilson who held the lead since January. The win also created a buzz about Watson becoming the early favorite for PGA TOUR Player of the year. In 10 starts he has made the cut eight times including 2 wins, one top 10 and two top 25's. The win moves Watson into 10th in the Official World Golf Rankings. It's his first time cracking the top 10 in the world rankings.
Notables
K.J. Choi, Jason Dufner and Tommy Gainey all finished in a tie for third place at -13, just two strokes back from the leaders. Dufner shot a 6-under, 66, to move from 13th to 3rd in the final day. Gainey finished in the top 10 for the fourth time this season and for the second time in two weeks. He finished in a tie for 3rd last week at The Heritage.
The world's 3rd ranked player, Luke Donald, finished in a tie for 8th. Donald has now made the cut in six of his seven PGA TOUR starts this season and has finished in the top 10 in all six.
The PGA TOUR moves to the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the Wells Fargo Championship. Rory McIlroy was the winner of this event in 2010.
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