What a couple weeks of golf we were treated to during the PGA TOUR and European Tour’s Asia Swing. We were able to see exciting finishes in each of the tournaments held in Asia including the CIMB Classic in Malaysia, the BMW Masters in Shanghai and this past weekend at the WGC-HSBC Champions, also in Shanghai.
This was the 10th edition of the HSBC Champions and it was perhaps the wildest one of them all. Bubba Watson had a two-shot lead with three holes to play until he bogeyed the 16th, double bogeyed the 17th and then holed out a bunker shot for eagle on the 18th to force a playoff with Tim Clark. Once in the playoff, the Masters Champion would make his 20-foot birdie putt to secure his first World Golf Championship title. Watson becomes the 14th player to win a major and a WGC event, capping off his best calendar year ever, winning the Northern Trust Open, the Masters and now, a WGC title. With this win, he moves up to number 3 in the Official Golf World Rankings, making him the highest-ranked American in golf.
Other notable names near the top of the leaderboard included Rickie Fowler, who finished T3 and still looking for a victory in the 2014 calendar year after such near misses in the sport’s biggest stages. Graeme McDowell tried to complete a wire-to-wire win and Martin Kaymer, who had a chance to join the playoff on the 18th, saw his third wedge shot on the par 5 bounce off the green and into the water. The underdog was Japanese player Hiroshi Iwata, who was a career journeyman in the sport, narrowly missing an 8-foot birdie putt to join the playoff – he would also finish T3.
Source: WGC-HSBC Champions
