Round 4: World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship
March 11 2012
9:20 pm
Watch: Rose wins WGC-Cadillac title
Final-round highlights
Justin Rose shot a 2-under 70 to win his first World Golf Championships event of his career.
9:00 pm
Watson unable to overcome mistakes
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM
DORAL, Fla. — As wrong as things went for Bubba Watson Sunday at TPC Blue Monster at Doral, he still had a chance to make everything right on the final hole with a birdie putt to force a playoff with Justin Rose.
“I was thinking that it didn’t matter — it didn’t matter what I did on the first few holes,” Watson said afterward. “This could overcome all that. Knowing that I was struggling, that’s the worst I’ve hit the ball all year. But I still had a chance in the end.”
Watson of course missed the putt and as a result finished second after a final-round 74.
”I was proud of myself for fighting, not giving up,” Watson continued. “Never got down today. Never got mad at myself. Just tried to figure it out. I’m trying to learn the game. In a bad situation like this, I’m trying to figure out, how to correct it.”
He didn’t give himself much of an opportunity to on Sunday.
Leading by three at the start of the day, Watson missed every fairway on the front nine and made four bogeys, including three in a row at one point.
Most of Watson’s problems in the final round could be attributed to ball position, he said. Watson likes to works the ball from left-to-right and right-to-left more than any other player in the game and that requires moving his ball position around.
The ball was either too far up or too far back, or too close or too far. Watson never quite got it in the right spot, at least early on, and struggled as a result.
Still, Watson had his chances.
He had a 9-footer for birdie on the par-4 14th, but slid it past the hole. Then the putt on the 18th after a spectacular shot from the right rough from 190 yards that bounded onto the green and near the hole.
“The putt on 18 [hurt more], because that was my last chance,” Watson said. “I played solid down the stretch, I just didn’t get any putts to go in.”
8:00 pm
McIlroy’s confidence continues to grow
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM
DORAL, Fla. — Even though Rory McIlroy felt “flat” when he arrived at this week’s World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, he felt he could win and on Sunday he nearly did.
McIlroy shot a 5-under 67, at one point getting to within a stroke of the lead, to finish third, two strokes behind winner Justin Rose.
There’s a good reason for McIlroy to feel as confident as he does. In five starts this year, McIlroy has yet to finish outside the top five. He has a win, two runner-up finishes and Sunday finished solo third at TPC Blue Monster at Doral. He’s also No. 1 in the FedExCup standings and No. 1 in the world.
“Yeah, I do,” McIlroy said when asked if he feels like he can win every time he tees it up. “Even when I don’t feel like I’ve played my best or I am playing my best, that’s been the biggest improvement in my game is being able to turn those 71s and 72s into 69s or 68s and keep yourself in a tournament.”
That’s what he did this week. Despite a sluggish start Thursday when he opened with a 1-over 73, McIlroy kept himself in the tournament with rounds of 65 and 67 on the weekend, which included going out in 30 in the third round.
Sunday when everyone else seemed to be struggling early, including overnight leader Bubba Watson, who made three straight bogeys at one point on the front nine, McIlroy was mostly mistake free. He made four birdies in his first 10 holes and with an eagle on the par-5 12th got to within one of the lead.
Two bogeys sandwiched around one birdie over McIlroy’s final five holes derailed his chances, but McIlroy certainly seems to have grown by leaps and bounds in the last 11 months.
”You learn a lot from previous experiences,” McIlroy said. “Masters was a big one for me. I think U.S. Open gave me the confidence to know that I was doing the right things and that I could win the biggest tournaments.
“Confidence, it can do massive things for your game. Even if you’re not playing that great, if you still have confidence in yourself, it makes a big difference.”
7:55 pm
With this victory: Justin Rose
Justin Rose drove away with his fourth career victory at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship. With this victory, Rose:
• Earns 550 FedExCup points and moves to No. 8 in the standings.
• Extends fully-exempt status through the end of the 2015 season.
• Wins on PGA TOUR for the third consecutive season.
• Records the fifth win by a player in his 30s this year, compared to five in their 20s and two in their 40s.
• Earns first top-10 finish in sixth start at the event (T46-2002, T28-2003, T15-2008, T20-2009, T42-2011, 1-2012).
• Posts just the fourth come-from-behind win at the event (Mike Weir-2000, Tiger Woods-2005, Nick Watney-2011).
• Becomes the first European winner and fourth international winner (five wins) of the event, joining Ernie Els (2004, 2010), Geoff Ogilvy (2008) and Mike Weir (2000).
This is Rose’s fourth victory in 199 career PGA TOUR starts. Here’s a list of Rose’s victories:
2012 Cadillac Championship
2011 BMW Championship
2010 AT&T National
2012 Memorial Tournament
7:15 pm
Notes from inside the ropes
By Fred Albers, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
DORAL, Fla. — Here are a few observations from Sunday’s final round at TPC Blue Monster at Doral, where Justin Rose won by a stroke over Bubba Watson on Sunday:
Blinders: Justin Rose was not scoreboard watching. He paid no attention to any of the various leaderboards scattered around the TPC Blue Monster at Doral complex. Rose said he had to make as many birdies as possible through the first dozen holes . Strategy did not come into play until the final few holes. Playing in the penultimate group turned into a huge advantage for Rose as he was able to post a number and put pressure on 54-hole leader Bubba Watson.
Bubba Talk: Watson battles emotions on the golf course and it’s readily apparent with his body language. Some players yell at their caddies when struggling; Watson gets down on himself. He mentally and sometimes verbally berates himself. It’s a sign of Watson’s maturing golf game that he could have such a terrible front nine and be mentally strong enough to rally at the finish.
Cart Ride: One of the more bizarre sights on a golf course is a player taking a cart ride. There are really just two possibilities — either a ball out of bounds or a withdrawal. When Tiger Woods got into a cart on the 12th hole the answer was evident. He withdrew because of an Achilles problem in his left ankle. He had begun to limp on the back nine even after changing shoes at the turn. Woods says he will have the tendon examined but there is no word on his future schedule. Woods withdrew from THE PLAYERS Championship last May because of injury and did not return to the PGA TOUR until August.
Thumper: If you ever have the chance to get close enough to hear one of Rory McIlroy’s greenside bunker shots, pay attention. You hear a distinctive "thump." That’s the noise a sand wedge makes as the flange splashes into the sand and the ball rides that cushion of sand out of the bunker onto the green. In 2011, McIlroy was 141st on TOUR in bunker saves, This year he’s ranked third, getting up and down 78 percent of the time.
Blue Monster: If you wonder why players hit drivers instead of 3-woods off the tee at the 18th, it’s because the landing area is much wider for drivers. Players have the option of squeezing a 3-wood into a 25-yard landing zone or blowing driver into a much wider landing area. Neither strategy was very successful on Sunday. The 18th played a half-stroke over par in the final round.
Fashion Statement: It’s not a new clothing style that we saw on Sunday, instead it was a club promotion. TaylorMade had its players wear shirts and caps with "17" displayed. It was referencing the 17 extra yards the company says its new line of RBZ woods delivers. It would have been a wonderful marketing coincidence if Justin Rose had parred the 18th hole to finish 17-under par.
6:58 pm
Congratulate Rose on his victory
Justin Rose has won the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, shooting a final-round 2-under 70 to win by one over Bubba Watson and two over Rory McIlroy. The victory is the fourth of Rose’s career. Send him your congratulations here and we’ll pass it along to him.
6:49 pm
Updates: News, notes, more
DORAL, Fla. — The final round of the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship has concluded and Justin Rose is the champion at TPC Blue Monster at Doral. Check below for news, notes and update from the afternoon.
UPDATES (All times ET)
6:48 p.m.: Bubba Watson hit a miraculous approach shot into the par-4 18th hole to give himself a 10-foot putt for birdie — and a spot in a playoff with Justin Rose — but the putt dropped just below the hole. Rose (-16) is your winner at TPC Blue Monster.
6:30 p.m.: Justin Rose bogeys the 72nd hole to take the clubhouse lead at 16 under. Only Bubba Watson can catch him. The big left hander missed the 18th fairway to the right and will need to make a very difficult birdie to force a playoff with the Englishman.
6:10 p.m.: Rory McIlroy posts 14 under for the clubhouse lead. Justin Rose makes par out of a fairway bunker on No. 17 to stay at 17 under. Bubba Watson still two back through 16.
5:47 p.m.: Justin Rose’s birdie on No. 14, coupled with a Bubba Watson bogey on No. 13, has the Englishman two clear of the pack at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Watson, Keegan Bradley and Rory McIlroy are two off the pace.
5:30 p.m.: Oh how quickly things change. Yesterday, Bubba Watson lost a four-shot lead to Justin Rose over a three-hole stretch. He regained his lead by day’s end, but lost it again with four bogeys in an eight-hole stretch. Now with back-to-back birdies, Watson is at 16 under and tied with Rose atop the leaderboard at TPC Blue Monster.
5:14 p.m.: Overnight leader Bubba Watson found his first birdie since the opening hole on No. 11 to pull into a second-place tie with playing competitor Keegan Bradley, one shot behind leader Justin Rose at TPC Blue Monster. Watson had four bogeys on his card and is 2 over for the day, but is still in good position as he chases his fourth PGA TOUR victory.
5:01 p.m.: Rory McIlroy eagles No. 12 and pars the 13th while Keegan Bradley drops a shot on No. 10. They’re tied at 15 under, one shot behind leader Justin Rose. Peter Hanson, Bubba Watson are still two off the pace.
4:43 p.m.:: Tiger Woods has withdrawn from the tournament with a leg injury. Click for more.
4:05 p.m.: Tiger Woods won’t be winning for a fourth time here. not after making the turn in 2 over with a couple of bogeys and zero birdies on the front nine. It’s the first time Woods has failed to birdie at least one hole on the front here all week. Meanwhile, Rory McIlory is suddenly in contention just four shots back after making the turn in a mistake-free 3 under. McIlroy had a chance to cut the deficit to just two, but he slid his 14-footer on No. 9 just past the hole.
3:45 p.m.: Three straight bogeys by Bubba Watson have dropped him out of the lead and a stroke behind Keegan Bradley and Justin Rose. Watson has made an absolute mess of the last three holes, twice hitting it in the water. If there is a bright side for Watson, it’s that he’s made a couple of pretty clutch bogey putts to at least stay within reach of the lead in a round that could have been even uglier.
3:25 p.m.: If there’s such a thing as a big bogey save, Bubba Watson just had one. After hitting his second shot into the water on No. 3, Watson curled in a 25-footer for bogey to keep the lead. Keegan Bradley had a chance to stay one back, but he missed his 7-footer for par to drop into third two strokes back. Now in second? Justin Rose, who birdied the par-3 fourth in the group ahead to get to 2 under on his round.
3:15 p.m.: Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods aren’t having quite the start they did on Saturday. Through his first five holes today, McIlroy has just one birdie — on the par-5 first — and four pars. Woods, meanwhile, has opened with five straight pars a day after opening with three straight birdies. Luke Donald, on the other hand, has three birdies in his first six holes to move into a tie for fourth. Donald could move back to No. 1 in the world if he finishes inside the top 4 and Rory McIlroy finishes far enough down the leaderboard.
2:55 p.m.: With conditions again soft because of more rain earlier today, and very little wind, players continue to score well at TPC Blue Monster at Doral. case in point: Keegan Bradley, who opened with an eagle after rolling in a 24-footer on what’s by far been the easiest hole on the golf course. That gets him to within two of lead Bubba Watson, who made birdie there from the edge of the green. Meanwhile, Charl Schwartzel continues to play well. He’s now 3 under and tied for fourth six shots back after a birdie on the par-4 fifth hole.
2:30 p.m.: The leaders are 10 minutes away from teeing off here at TPC Blue Monster at Doral, where it’s been raining for a little while now. No one has caught Bubba Watson yet, but there are some low scores being put up. Luke Donald and Charl Schwartzel are already 2 under through their first three holes. Hunter Mahan started his round eagle-birdie, but he triple-bogeyed the third hole to fall back to even par. That hole has claimed a few victims today with Sergio Garcia making a 12 there earlier and Simon Dyson a 9.
2 p.m.: Paul Casey aced the par-3 15th hole Sunday. Unfortunately for Casey, it didn’t win him a Cadillac. The car giveaway is on the 13th hole. Casey thought he had won the car, however, and was going to give it to his caddie it appeared, until he was informed he in fact hadn’t won it. Click here to see the hole-in-one.
4:45 pm
Woods withdraws with Achilles injury
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM
DORAL, Fla. — Tiger Woods withdrew from the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship after 11 holes Sunday, citing an injury to his left Achilles tendon.
“I felt tightness in my left Achilles when warming up this morning. It felt progressively worse throughout the day,” Woods said in a statement. "After hitting my tee shot at 12, I decided it was necessary to withdraw. In the past, I may have tried to continue to play, but this time, I decided to do what I thought was necessary. I will get my Achilles evaluated sometime early next week."
Woods was 3 over on his round and 10 shots out of the lead when he saved par from the bunker on the 11th hole. Following his tee shot on the 12th hole, he headed for the parking lot. He got in a black sedan and drove off with caddie Joe LaCava in the passenger seat.
When Woods made the turn Sunday at TPC Blue Monster at Doral, he changed shoes and was noticeably limping. After hitting his second shot from the rough on the 10th hole, Woods winced and appeared to be in pain.
“I wasn’t paying much attention, but it looked like he made a swing on 12 that really hurt,” said Webb Simpson, who was paired with Woods. “He just shook my hand and said, ‘I’ve got to go in’ because you know, you could tell he was hurting. He didn’t say a whole lot, but his expression was enough.”
Simpson’s caddie Paul Tesori said Woods started “hobbling” beginning at about the fourth hole. “You knew something was going on,” he said. “[Tiger’s caddie] Joe [LaCava] said his Achilles was puffed up."
Woods is scheduled to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard in two weeks before heading to the Masters in early April.
This was the third straight week that Woods had played.
When asked after Saturday’s round how his leg was holding up, Woods said, “Oh, it feels great.”
In recent years, however, health has become a major concern for Woods. This is the third time in three years that Woods, who last won on TOUR at the 2009 BMW Championshiph, has withdrawn due to an injury.
At last year’s PLAYERS Championship, Woods pulled out after just nine holes in the opening round after re-injuring his left knee and Achilles tendon, an injury he originally sustained during the third round of the Masters last year.
Woods missed three months, saying he didn’t want to return until he knew he was healthy.
Since then, he’d been taken off a limited ball count and was able to practice as much as he wanted. In three starts this season, Woods tied for 15th at Pebble Beach, was eliminated in the second round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and tied for second at last week’s Honda Classic, where he closed with a final-round 62.
Sunday marked the fifth time Woods has withdrawn from a PGA TOUR event as a pro.
He also withdrew from the last two PLAYERS Championships — he pulled out in the final round of the 2010 event with a neck injury — and also withdrew from the 2006 Northern Trust Open and the 1998 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Woods also withdrew from the 1995 U.S. Open as an amateur.
In 2008, he played through a stress fracture in his left leg on his way to winning the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. In December of that year, he tore his Achilles tendon.
In all, Woods has had four major surgeries on his left leg during his career.
3:30 pm
Watch: Bradley’s eagle
Bradley opens with eagle
Keegan Bradley makes a 24-foot eagle putt on the par-5 first hole.
2:45 pm
Watch: Casey’s hole-in-one
Casey aces 15th
Paul Casey made a hole-in-one on the 166-yard par-3 15th.
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