Bubba Watson fired a 10-under 62 to seize the second-round lead at the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Friday as he and playing partner Justin Rose delivered a barrage of birdies at Doral.
Watson had a 12-under total of 132, while England’s Rose, who carded an eight-under 64, was in second place on 11-under 133.
Watson and Rose combined for a total of 17 birdies. Rose had eight of them with no bogeys, while Watson had nine birdies and an eagle and just one bogey on another windy day in south Florida.
Photo: Reuters
“They did everything right,” said Mark Wilson, who had a ringside seat to the show as the third man in the group. “It was some of the best golf I’ve seen collectively between them.”
Watson’s eagle came at the par-five eighth, where he was in the fairway, but decided his best line to the green was just past a palm tree.
He smacked a three-iron that just missed the tree, carried the water and left him a six-footer.
“I took it right up the edge of that tree. There’s a little tree there and it actually nicked that limb a little bit,” Watson said. “I hit it as hard as I could ... what everybody calls a stinger. Hit as hard as I could low and knew it wasn’t going to slice. So all I was protecting was the draw and it went dead straight and came off perfect.”
The eagle moved Watson one ahead of Rose, whose eight birdies included four in five holes around the turn, which the group made at 18 after teeing off on 10.
Even though he had his own great round going, Rose admitted he enjoyed watching Watson.
“I don’t let it influence my game plan, the way I play the golf course, but definitely you keep one eye on him just out of interest,” Rose said. “He’s a fun guy to watch play golf. When he hits tee shots, there’s a bit of disbelief and stuff like that, or he curves one, starts one in the trees and there’s ‘Ooohing’ and ‘Aahhhing’ when it goes back into the fairways. No one knows what to expect.”
Overnight co-leader Adam Scott of Australia shrugged off a double bogey to card a 68 that left him in third on 134. Scott, who stayed in touch with four birdies in his last six holes, was one shot in front of Sweden’s Peter Hanson, who carded a 65 for 135.
Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn (68) and American Keegan Bradley (67) were tied for fifth on 136.
Amid the low scores, Tiger Woods carded a five-under 67, which left him seven off the lead on five-under 139.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, playing his first event since ascending to the top of the world rankings, signed for a 69 that left him 10 adrift on two-under 142.
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