Talk of European dominance may be on hold for now
One week does not make a season, nor does it stop a trend, but here's something to consider after the season's second World Golf Championship event was completed Sunday with the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at Doral: The Americans can still play some high-quality golf.
With all the talk of European dominance, it was interesting to see a lot of Red, White and Blue flags atop the WGC-Cadillac Championship leaderboard.
The U.S. had a youthful 1-2 finish with Nick Watney (28) holding off Dustin Johnson (26) by two shots to win his third career PGA TOUR title.
It's not the first time the Americans finished in the top two spots on the PGA TOUR this year -- there were five U.S. players at the top of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am -- but Cadillac's field was as international as Miami's demographics.
Sure, Europeans still hold down the top four spots in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in almost two decades, but the Americans made quite a stand at the Doral Resort & Spa. The U.S., in fact, held down half of the top 14 spots, with Matt Kuchar fifth (his TOUR-leading 16th top-10 finish since the start of 2010), Rickie Fowler eighth, Hunter Mahan ninth and Tiger Woods and Jonathan Byrd tying for 10th.
With Michael Bradley winning the Puerto Rico Open in a playoff over Troy Matteson, it was an American sweep of winners on the PGA TOUR on Sunday. U.S. players have now won eight of the TOUR's 12 events this year.
At Doral, Fowler and Woods tied for the low round of the day, six-under 66s. While they couldn't get either player their first victory of any kind since 2009, the 66s portend better days ahead. Woods was grinning from ear to ear after two-putting for par on the final hole, something we haven't seen much of from the world's former No. 1-ranked player lately.
"Obviously, as you know, I had not played a round like this," Woods said. "I've played stretches like this in a round, but not for an entire round."
Returning to a course where he has won three times and never finished out of the top 10 in seven starts, Woods improved as the week went along. He admits he's frustrated by the 16-month winless spell, but believes he is closer with the Masters just three weeks away.
| Watney's maturation | |
|
"Of course, it bothers me," he said of the winless drought. "I want to win golf tournaments. That's the whole idea of entering events is to win golf tournaments, and I didn't do that this week. But I showed positive signs for the next time I play, which is a good thing."
But the focus for most of Sunday was on the battle at the top between Watney and Johnson, who both work with instructor Butch Harmon. Johnson started the day leading by a shot, but was undone because he didn't use his prodigious length to tame the TPC Blue Monster's par-5s. He two-putted the first par-5 hole for a birdie, but finished with three pars. Had he birdied all four par-5s, Johnson would have been the one holding the trophy.
"Nick is a good friend of mine," Johnson said. "I told him walking off that if I was going to lose to somebody, I was glad it was him. And he played really well. I didn't give him the tournament. He earned it. He played well."
Watney, who improved to No. 15 in the Official World Golf Ranking, had a chance to win here two years ago, but left a tying putt about an inch short on the 72nd hole. The 18th almost cost Watney the title again this year, when he made a double bogey in Saturday's third round.
But when Watney came to No. 18 on Sunday, he wasn't content to protect his one-shot lead. He expanded it with a clutch 13-foot birdie putt as Johnson watched in the fairway.
Watney has yet to finish out of the top 10 this year in five starts, which also may explain why his hair is starting to resemble the rough at a U.S. Open. It all goes back to a deal he made with his caddie, Chad Reynolds, in their first tournament together this year.
"Well, my first tournament was San Diego, and he was going to go get a haircut in San Diego," Watney said. "It's really silly, but I just said, 'Why don't we not get hair cuts until we finish out of the top 10,' and it's been five tournaments now, over a couple of months. I'm not sure how it's getting so much attention, but his hair is looking a little bit nesty."
Who's complaining, though?
Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.
Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM
FANTASY
PGATOUR.com is part of Turner Sports Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network 