WGC-Cadillac Championship Wrap-Up
The WGC-Cadillac Championship of this past weekend was a nail-biter to say the least. Between injuries and birdies, bunkers and bogeys, this tournament was definitely not one that you wanted to miss. Just in case you skipped out on this one, good ol’ Scratch is here to give you the highlights.
Because I know you can’t stand the suspense any longer, I’ll get the winner out of the way first; Justin Rose finished 16 under par to clench a one-stroke victory. His performance was practically perfect in every way. The mistake-free round won him his fourth career tournament. Though he bogeyed the 18th hole, he can be forgiven considering it’s essentially a par-five anyway.
Bubba Watson entered Sunday with the lead after struggled to a 74. His narrow miss of a birdie putt on the 18th hole forced a playoff. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy – golf’s new number one – took the leaderboard by storm to finish third with a 67.
Bubba Watson’s fall from grace was swift and unexpected. His front nine was horrific, shooting a 39 on one of the easiest parts of the course. The tougher back nine was taken by force with a consistent and impressive one under. Unfortunately for Watson, the damage to his score had been dealt and proved too great to overcome. That being said, he still claims the title for most impressive shot of the tournament. On the par-5 8th hole, Watson hit his approach from 225 yards away to make it within 7 feet of the cup.
If you notice, one big name has so far been missing in this article – Tiger Woods. Unfortunately, it’s not his performance that is newsworthy so much as his lack of one. Tiger withdrew on the 12th hole due to injury, citing a tight left Achilles tendon. He was three over par for the round at the time of his withdrawal. The golfer, who has been plagued by injuries these past few years, says that he will have the injury evaluated early this week. He struggled through the round, making no birdies, and changed his shoes shortly before he decided to throw in the towel. When Tiger walked off the course, he did so with a noticeable limp.
He issued the following statement about an hour after he left the course:
“I felt tightness in my left Achilles warming up this morning, and it continued to get progressively worse,” said Tiger after his three bogeys and birdie-less round. “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.”
Here’s wishing Tiger a speedy recovery and congratulations to Justin Rose for his spectacular win!