After letting a two-shot lead with three holes to play vanish, Bubba Watson made a long birdie putt on the first playoff hole on Sunday to defeat Tim Clark and win a thrilling WGC-HSBC Champions played at the Sheshan International Golf Course in Shanghai,China.
On Saturday’s third round, Graeme McDowell fired a one-under 71 and began Sunday with a one-shot lead at 11-under over Japan’s Hiroshi Iwata, with Martin Kaymer and Watson two shots back tied for third at nine-under, while Clark and Rickie Fowler began three back.
Watson was off to a slow start as he tripped to a bogey at the opening hole, dropping him to eight-under tied with Clark. But Watson made amends to that and along with Clark made birdies on the par-5 second to get to nine-under.
Watson took his first outright lead of the week at 12-under after he made his fourth birdie in five holes at the par-5 eight—-a hole he birdied all four rounds. Meanwhile Clark began to pop on the radar after he made back-to-back birdies on eight and nine to get to within two shots of Watson.
The competition was stiff and Watson got company on top of the leaderboard when he failed to par the par-4 13th, dropping back to 11-under with McDowell. At that moment, Kaymer and Fowler were just a shot back, while Iwata, who had a tough start with two bogeys and just one birdie on the front nine, was still only two back.
Watson had birdie the par-5 14th the previous three rounds and Sunday wasn’t the exception. He would birdie the hole to regain sole possession of the lead, while Iwata joined Fowler and Kaymer at 10-under after he dropped a birdie on 13th.
But then, Fowler would drop a shot with a bogey on 14th, and soon after, Kaymer bogeyed 13th to also drop back to nine-under.
Clark would continue his stealth rise to the top after scoring his fourth and fifth birdies of the day at 14th and 15th, reaching 10-under, just two behind Watson. McDowell would drop a shot after a bogey on 14th which dropped him back into a tie with Clark and Kaymer, while Iwata birdied 14th to get to within one of Watson.
Then things started to get ugly for Watson, and his roller coaster ride at the end started when he tripped to a bogey at the par-4 16th. But Iwata didn’t capitalize as he also dropped a shot after a bogey on 15th. Meanwhile, Fowler gain some ground when he birdied 16th to reach 10-under.
At that moment, Watson held the lead at 11-under but he had his rearview mirror crowded with Clark, Fowler, Iwata, Kaymer and McDowell all at 10-under heading into the final few holes.
But things would get worse for Watson on the par-3 17th, where he found a bunker and took two shots just to get his ball out. He wound up making double-bogey, dropping him out of the lead and dropped back to nine-under, one shot behind the new five-way tie for the lead between Clark, Fowler, Iwata, Kaymer and McDowell who shared the lead at 10-under.
But the roller coaster was about to take a turn upwards for Watson as the final group of Iwata, Kaymer and McDowell parred 16th and 17th, while a group ahead, he along with Clark and Fowler were on the closing hole, the par-5 18th.
Watson found a greenside bunker with his second shot and hopes of him joining the lead group started to fade away. But being the magical shot maker that he can sometimes be, the 36-year-old lefty pulled off one of the best shots of his career as he calmly knocked the ball onto the green and to a long watch as it rolled in for an eagle to grab back the outright lead at 11-under.
Of the remaining five, only Clark was able birdie the home hole to join Watson and send the tournament to extra holes.
The pair went back to the 18th to play their first playoff hole, and after finding the fairway with their tee shots, Watson found the same greenside bunker he hit in regulation, while Clark’s approach found the green, but had a long real estate to cover for an eagle shot.
Watson would get out of the bunker, but this time he left it 30 feet shot of the hole. Clark had missed his eagle and birdie shots, setting up Watson’s long birdie attempt, which he sank and gave the two-time Masters champion his first win of the young 2014-2015 season.
This is the seventh of Watson's career on the PGA Tour and his third on the European Tour, and his third win this calendar year is a career best. It also marks the first time Watson has claimed a win outside of the United States.
The WGC-HSBC Champions may not have the notoriety of the other three WGC events played earlier in the year in the United States, but it's still a WGC title and it’s also part of the European Tour Final Series. The field is deep, with players from across the globe, and the purse is just as rich as the other three.
Watson earned the $1.4 million paycheck that goes to the winner of the $8.5 million purse, and it's probably the biggest non-Masters tournament he's ever won, and he did it in the most dramatic and un-Bubba-like fashion.
Fowler (70), Iwata (72) and McDowell (73) finished tied for third at 10-under. Kaymer (73), Ian Poulter (71) and Thorbjorn Olesen (71) finished one back at nine-under tied for sixth place. Marc Leishman who shot a final round of 69 finished in solo ninth at eight-under.
Americans Jason Dufner (68) and Brandt Snedeker (70) rounded up the Top 10 finishers with their tie for 10th place at seven-under.
The PGA Tour heads to Mexico next week for the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, where Harris English won last year, while the European Tour Final Series reached their third leg with the Turkish Airlines Open by the Ministry of Youth and Sport in Turkey.