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DORAL, Fla. – Bubba Watson plays unconventional golf. The hot pink driver, better suited for Paula Creamer, is just the first giveaway.
The guy bends it more than Beckham. His aggressive lines go over water, around trees, through places where a lot of amateur shots go to die. And Friday, he free-wheeled his way to a typically wild 62 that took him to the top of the leaderboard at the WGC Cadillac Championship at 12-under for the week, one shot better than playing partner Justin Rose.
Rose shot 64 himself but would have lost a match 1-down against Watson, who cut the Blue Monster down to size with wide swaths.
The thing is, Watson said he hates playing here.
“This golf course doesn't really suit me. My eye lines . . . it’s tough. It’s tough for me. Not a big fan of No. 18. I normally play it really bad. Played it 1 under so far,” he said. “If you go back in the history of me playing this tournament, it’s not very good. It’s just one of those things. I just played good today. When you hit the ball well and you putt good, every golf course, you can score on.”
A lot of people were scoring well Friday (including Tiger Woods with a 65) but no one went as low as Watson. He had nine birdies and an eagle with just one mindless bogey on No. 4, where he overshot the green through a strong left-to-right crosswind.
Otherwise, Watson used the wind like a barnstorming aviator.
Take his shot on No. 6, where he sliced his driver (he used driver on every hole but one) behind a tree, leaving 136 yards to the pin.
“I took out a wide open 9 iron, aimed it about 40 yards to the right. Sliced it out of the rough to about . . . I don’t know, eight feet. Who draws it up that way? The sad thing is I could see that in my head,” he said.
Rose, a classic style player who takes more direct routes, was talking about the drive Watson hit on three.
“It was in the water all day long. It started in the middle of the lake -- he was a little worried about it himself -- but carried about 330,” Rose explained. “His ball was actually safe all the time, but the line he took, it was just something like, ‘oh, he’s dropping, no, he’s got a flip wedge in his hand.’”
Rose said it’s hard not to watch Watson the way he plays, even though it may not be helpful to do so.
“You can’t watch him. Some of the lines he takes off tees can suck you into a false sense of security. He’s cutting off doglegs, and for me it’s not doable. My bad days I can cut it like he does but it’s not coming back like his ball is.”
Watson is looking for his fourth PGA Tour win and his first in a WGC event or major. He hasn’t finished out of the top 18 in any tournament he’s played this year, mostly because he’s been working on the mental game, always a challenge for him since his mind runs almost as fast as his golf ball.
“It’s just one of those things. It’s always a fight in my head, I have to trust it,” he said. “I’m not worrying about these other guys, I’m worrying about myself. I’m fighting myself more than anybody else. I’m doing it so far. I’ll tell you Sunday afternoon if I can do it or not.”
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