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Bubba Watson wins Travelers Championship in awesome comeback

By Brandon Raper

CROMWELL, CT - JUNE 24: Bubba Watson of the United States acknowledges the gallery after making a par on the fourth green during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 24, 2018 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images)
CROMWELL, CT - JUNE 24: Bubba Watson of the United States acknowledges the gallery after making a par on the fourth green during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 24, 2018 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images) /
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Bubba Watson completed a comeback from six shots down to win his third Travelers Championship title on Sunday. Now, he’s ready to push for Player of the Year honors.

Bubba Watson has come a long way in the last year. It seems like forever ago that he was ditching a lucrative ball contract with Volvik, not to mention his open admission to thoughts of retirement. Today, though, Watson is the first player on the PGA TOUR with three wins in 2018, after a dramatic comeback at the Travelers Championship.

The question now isn’t whether Bubba will win again. The question is how many will Bubba win? And just what does he have left in the tank for the rest of this season?

If you, like so many of us, think of Watson as two different players – “Good Bubba” and “Bad Bubba” – then Sunday was clearly the former. Bubba started his day six shots off the lead held by Paul Casey, but only two out of second place. There was a significant gap to close, but that’s where Watson tends to shine the most.

Aggressive, creative golf plays right up Bubba’s alley, and that’s exactly what we got. After four straight pars to start the day, Watson absolutely poured it on. Draining eight birdies in his final 14 holes, he not only closed the gap on a struggling Casey, but forced the 54-hole leader to play catch-up late.

While Bubba’s day was filled with incredible shots (including a flawless bump-and-run for birdie on No. 10), there was no better moment than his approach to the 18th green. Take a look.

80 yards, over a bunker, tight pin position. No problem at all. That birdie put Watson alone atop the leaderboard, and the rest was almost academic.

What does Bubba Watson have in store for us next?

On Saturday night, Bubba was thinking the same thing as most golf fans. Paul Casey had such a tremendous lead on a course that had proven to be birdie-friendly, it would surely take a miraculous round to knock him off that perch.

However, there’s a difference between believing that and actually accomplishing it.

"“My 7 under [Friday], I need to do better than that. I’m going to have to get to like 10 [under],” Watson said. “The only beauty is, getting out in front, you have a chance to put a number up and maybe scare them. But to scare them, you’re going to have to shoot 10 under at worst, where I’m at anyway.”"

A 63 with some help got the job done, with Watson winning by 3. The math was spot on.

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The biggest takeaway I have from this week isn’t how good Watson was, although that was mightily impressive. It’s the fact that a year ago, nobody had this level of confidence in Bubba – not even himself.

Sure, this course is basically a home away from home for the former Georgia Bulldog. Watson won his first PGA TOUR title in Cromwell back in 2010, and he’s seemingly always in contention late. But he’s carried this new aura with him all year, from L.A. to Augusta, and now the Travelers.

There’s still a bit of Bubba’s trademark volatility, at least when it comes to his results, to be fair. This win was his first top-25 finish since the Masters, and his second in stroke play since the WGC-Mexico Championship in March.

The fact remains, though, that he’s still a three-time champion in 2018. Dustin Johnson isn’t. Neither are Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, or anybody else on the PGA TOUR.

Next: Jordan Spieth working to regain form at Travelers Championship

If the floodgates aren’t even entirely open yet for Bubba, and they may not be, then there are going to be some seriously entertaining things ahead for him. Another win or two (or three?), PGA TOUR Player of the Year honors. Maybe even a FedEx Cup championship. All are suddenly a very real possibility for one of golf’s fan favorites.

This much is for sure. Bubba Watson is having a lot more fun out there than I’ve seen in a long time. And, thanks to that, a lot of us sure are too.

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