Bubba Watson back on track after a strong finish at the Travelers Championship
The reigning Masters champion Bubba Watson entered the field of the Travelers Championship, following a missed cut at the second major event of the year, US Open, with an aim of returning to his form.
Even though he did not come out as a champion at the TPC at River Highlands, he managed to put up a strong performance to tie for the second spot on the leaderboard.
During the US Open, he posted a two-round score of nine-over par 149 at the challenging Olympic Club.
In the opening round, he gave a terrible performance and recorded seven bogeys, along with a double bogey against a lone birdie to finish eight-over par 78.
The second round witnessed him record a one-over par 71, which itself was not an embarrassing score. Yet, it was not enough to earn him a chance to play the final two rounds of the prestigious tournament.
Prior to entering the Travelers Championship, he told the PGA Tour website that putting was the main culprit behind his poor performances in the Memorial Tournament and the US Open.
In addition to that, he did not have much time for practice, as he was busy with his family, especially with his newly adopted son, Jacob.
“I didn't really practice as much as I wanted to,” he said, after Masters Tournament. “A month off, getting rusty at Memorial. Didn't make the putts, and if you look at my stats at Memorial and at the U. S. Open, I putted terrible. Just didn't make the putts,
didn't make the 10-footers”.
As a result, he looked really disappointed, especially when he was considered as one of the favourites in both the tournaments.
Therefore, it was essential for him to make an effort to bounce back at the River Highlands.
He recorded only seven bogeys in the event, which was considered as a huge turnaround compared to his last week’s performance.
The golf commentators believe that Watson lost some focus after registering a win at the Augusta National and was not giving as much time to the game.
While looking at his pre-Masters performance, it is clear that he was making the headlines right from the start of the 2012 golf season, due to his extraordinary capabilities of displaying a good game in different parts of the world.
Prior to recording a playoff victory over Louis Oosthuizen in the Masters Tournament, he had the worst finish of standing tied on the 18th position in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
In addition to that, he had four top-five finishes in the eight events that he had played. However, he failed to keep his winning momentum going and missed two of the three cuts, following the Masters.
Therefore, the second-place finish at the Travelers Championship can play a crucial role in getting him back on track once again.
“All in all, it was a great day. Came up a little short, but it was good,” he said after a second straight 65 on the weekend. “It’s good to get back and get under the gun and get under the pressure and get back to where I was starting at the beginning of
the year”.
According to the golf commentators, Watson is now very much ready for the upcoming PGA Tour events, following a great finish on Sunday. Otherwise, the two consecutive missed cuts could have sent his season into a tailspin.
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