WGC Mexico: Report cards for ten of the top PGA TOUR stars
By Bill Felber
Bubba Watson’s game doesn’t fit the stereotype of him as a big, dumb bomber. Although hardly a great iron player or putter, his Strokes Gained averages for 2018 and thus far in 2019 both classify him as tour average.
Having said that, he played stereotypically this weekend and the result was a tie for 27th.
Naturally Bubba did what he must do off the tee…crush the ball. He normally picks up about one stroke on the field off the tee, and this week he raised that advantage to 1.25 strokes.
Nothing else went as well. His approaches, a relative strength to date in the 2019 season, cost Watson an average of more than a stroke per round. He surrendered another third of a stroke in his touch game.
Where Bubba broke the stereotype was with the short stick, an ongoing issue this season. In his previous 2019 tournaments, Watson had surrendered more than three-quarters of a stroke per round, but at the WGC Mexico he actually beat the field by an average of more than a half stroke per round.
When Bubba combines his usually reliable long game with competent, even productive, putting, the results can be imposing, What failed him in Mexico City, and ultimately led to that tie for 27th, was his approach game. Bubba may never be a tour leader in that department, but he has to hold his own. Until this week, he had been doing that.