It was fun this weekend to watch the boys of the PGA and European Tours mix it up in China. The WGC-HSBC Champions boasted a solid field as it is co-sponsored by both tours and with plenty of big names perched atop the leaderboard it made for some thrilling early Sunday morning viewing.
Good old boy Bubba Watson was up to his old tricks as he powered, curved and coaxed his ball around the course to the “oohs and ahs” of the Chinese fans.
Watson had worked his way into the lead after a quick start and some lackluster play from leader Graeme McDowell. 
Watson had a two stoke lead and looked to be on cruise control until the sixteenth when he took bogey and then made double on seventeen to fall behind.
With a pile up of seasoned professionals bunched near the lead the tournament got a heck of a lot more exciting.
Martin Kaymer, Tim Clark, Rickie Fowler and Graeme McDowell all had a chance to make a move. And Hiroshi Iwata from Japan was in the mix and ready to play spoiler.
But Bubba being Bubba decided that making a long bunker shot for eagle on eighteen to tie Clark and force a playoff would be more fun than finishing second.
The playoff was anti-climatic as Bubba got up and down for birdie from the same bunker to close out the affable South African.
But it will be Bubba’s eagle from the sand that gets remembered here. It was a great shot and by now we’ve all seen it plenty of times but things could have been so very different for Bubba if he wasn’t so lucky down the stretch.
When Bubba made a double bogey five on seventeen things looked lost. Tim Clark had a short birdie putt on the same hole that lipped the edge and that would have been the winning stroke but it was not to be.
The short hitting Clark played the best of all down the stretch going three under over the last five holes. And his facing Bubba in the playoff looked like David versus Goliath. That missed bird on seventeen cost him the win.
Bubba still was struggling both physically and emotionally when he put his ball in the bunker at eighteen.
Playing at sixteen and seventeen he was disturbed by the thousands of fans there to see him. They were moving and snapping photos and after both tee shots Bubba walked off the tee exasperated muttering out loud about their behavior.
We had seen this dozens of time before: Bubba misses shots and cast blame on others like the fans, the caddie, the setup, the gods and anything else he can think of.
Bubba was primed for a meltdown and if that shot doesn’t fall on eighteen his post round press conference would have been different. See the French Open or the Travelers.
But as fate would have it Bubba got lucky, yes lucky. Was it skill that put that ball close to the hole on eighteen? Yes. Skill is putting three balls within a foot of the hole on that shot. Any golfer will tell you that you need a bit of luck to hole it and Bubba got it.
That ball dropping in the hole certainly reflected his skill but there was a bit of luck there for sure.
Afterwards, Bubba was all smiles as he took the check and accepted the trophy. There was no mention of the fans annoying the petulant champion. I wonder how things would have gone if he didn’t win?
We would have seen the “same old Bubba.” The one that bitches moans and loses control when things are perfect for him. Thanks to that shot we were spared his whining.
I guess Bubba wasn’t the only one that got lucky.
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