Bubba Escapes Zurich Cut

Bubba Watson escaped the cut with no room to spare in his defence of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

The Masters champion shot a second 71 for two under, 10 strokes off the lead of fellow American Jason Dufner.

Luke Donald, who needs to finish in the top seven to return to the top of the world rankings, fired 65 to climb to six under and six shots off the lead.

“It's nice to post a low number and get back into the mix”Luke Donald

Scotland's Russell Knox and Americans Ken Duke and John Rollins were one shot adrift in second.

Knox, who resides in Florida but was born in Inverness, followed his opening-round 69 with a 64 which contained an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey.

Watson hit a spectator with his tee shot on the second hole, drawing blood from the head of 52-year-old Radd Leonard, a motorcycle shop owner from nearby Baton Rouge who came to the tournament to see Watson in his first post-Masters tournament.

"I saw it coming and it looked like it was hooking right at me. I wanted to see that big hook, you know, and I got to see it," said Leonard, who was bandaged up by paramedics and accepted a signed glove from Watson.

"I turned and ducked and it still hit me. It gave him a good bounce, anyway.

"I'll be all right. As long as I didn't black out, I figured everything was OK."

Donald rebounded from his opening 73 with a bogey-free 65, sparked by holing a seven iron for eagle on the first followed by two birdies and with further birdies at 10, 14 and 18.

"It was certainly not quite as breezy as it was [on Thursday]," said the 34-year-old. "The wind didn't really pick up until 16, so I had a good six holes without any breeze and made a couple of birdies.

"It's nice to post a low number and get back into the mix."

Seventy-nine players made the cut, with Northern Ireland's former US Open champion Graeme McDowell squeezing into the weekend at two under after a 73, while 2001 Open champion David Duval shot 69 to reach halfway three under.

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Bubba Drives Ping Pink

That pink driver used by Bubba Watson during his Masters victory is going to the market.

Two days after Watson won the Masters on the second extra hole, Ping said it would sell 5,000 limited-edition G20 drivers with the pink shaft and head. The drivers sell for $430, and Ping said it would donate 5 percent to a fundraising campaign called "Bubba Long in Pink. Driven by Ping."

As part of the campaign, the Phoenix-based company donated $10,000, along with $300 for every drive Watson has hit this year. To date, the campaign has generated $61,600 for charity.

Watson, meanwhile, launched "Bubba & Friends Drive to a Million" in January with hopes of raising $1 million for charities this year.

"Even prior to his win at the Masters, golfers were requesting pink G20s," said John Solheim, chairman and CEO of Ping. 

"Through word of mouth, social media and phone calls, the interest was extremely high. We want to satisfy that demand while bringing even more visibility to Bubba's goal of raising $1 million."

Watson won his first green jacket by defeating Louis Oosthuizen. 

The 33-year-old from Bagdad, Florida, in the Panhandle, won for the fourth time in his career and moved to No. 4 in the world, making him the highest-ranked American in golf. He became the fifth left-hander to win the Masters in the last 10 years.

"I've never had a dream go this far, so I can't really say it's a dream come true," Watson said Sunday.

Bubba Wins Masters Play-off

Augusta National served up another thriller - and it ended with American Bubba Watson overcoming Louis Oosthuizen and pulling off the fifth win by a left-hander in the last ten Masters Tournaments.

The big-hitting 33 year old stopped Oosthuizen from becoming the third South African to don a Green Jacket in the last five years - and the first ever to win after producing a magical albatross.

With England's Lee Westwood coming close again, Oosthuizen, the runaway winner of The Open Championship at St Andrews two years ago, and Watson, who lost a play-off for the US PGA Championship to Martin Kaymer a month after that, tied on the ten under par total of 278.

"I never got this far in my dreams," said the 33 year old.

Watson had missed a 22 footer on the final green and then failed with a nine footer when they returned to the 18th.

They then switched to the downhill tenth. Oosthuizen bogeyed and Watson, despite hitting into trouble with his distinctive pink driver, conjured up a superb hook onto the green and two-putted for victory.

"I was there earlier," he said of his drive into trouble. "So I was used to it.

"I knew what I was facing. I had a good lie. I had to hook it about 40 yards, but I am pretty good at hooking it."

He becomes the 14th different winner of the last 14 Majors and the eighth in a row who had never won one before. Seven was already a record.

Both had missed birdie putts on the last, but what came before was simply stunning.

After the drama of Charl Schwartzel’s victory last year this year's final round included the first-ever albatross two on the 575 yard second hole.

That would have been memorable if it had been from the tournament back-marker, but Oosthuizen's 253 yard four iron took him into the lead.

With a roar that matched any heard in the great days of Jack Nicklaus on the course, the noise level went up and up as the ball curled round from the front of the green and then dropped in to take him from seven under par to ten under at a stroke.

“It was tough after that double-eagle,” said Oosthuizen. “I mean, when something like that happens early in your round, you think that this is it. That was my first double-eagle ever, so it was tough the next five holes to just get my head around it and just play the course.”

Overnight leader Peter Hanson could hear it from the first green and bogeyed to suddenly find himself two behind.

Three-time winner Phil Mickelson - another left-hander, of course - was joint second at that point, but then gave himself a real mountain to climb with a six - his second triple bogey of the week - on the short fourth.

Nobody has ever won a Green Jacket with one triple bogey on his card and Mickelson could not change that.

Westwood birdied the last, but a 68 for eight under left him joint third with Hanson, Mickelson and another American, Matt Kuchar.

It was Westwood's sixth top three finish in his last ten Majors, but still he has not won one in 56 attempts.

Mickelson had crashed from one behind to four back on the third after hitting the grandstand on the left with his tee shot and rebounding into the undergrowth.

Rejecting the idea of going back to the tee, he then had two right-handed hacks and found a bunker.

Getting up and down from there at least limited the damage to three dropped shots, but after seven holes Mickelson was still searching for his first birdie of the day.

Oosthuizen had bogeyed the same hole and parred his way to the turn, but then failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker at the tenth and so the tension mounted.

He birdied the long 13th, but was joined on nine under when Kuchar eagled the 15th from only three.

Kuchar followed that with a bogey, though, and instead, even with Oosthuizen adding another birdie at the 15th, it was playing partner Watson who became joint leader after four successive birdies from the 13th.

“Bubba had a good stretch of four birdies in a row - he played brilliant,” added Oosthuizen. 

“I don't feel like I could have hit two better putts in the play-off. It's a hard day, but congratulations to Bubba, he did brilliantly.”

Ian Poulter and Padraig Harrington gave themselves a chance too, but it was effectively over for them before Poulter three-putted the last for seventh place and Harrington double-bogeyed it to be joint eighth with Justin Rose and Adam Scott, who like Bo Van Pelt holed-in-one off the 16th.

Bubba Holds Lead on Cadillac Moving Day

Rory McIlroy thought he might have a chance at 59. Tiger Woods opened with three straight birdies and made a charge of his own. None of this bothered Bubba Watson, who figured he could go just as low Saturday at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship.

All the noise about McIlroy and Woods soon disappeared when Watson started eagle-birdie.

And even when Justin Rose ran off four straight birdies to catch him, Watson responded with a style of golf only he plays. He plunked a man in the gallery on one hole and regained the lead with a birdie. His target on another hole was a man in an orange shirt, and he hit that one to tap-in range for another birdie.

When his wild day ended with what Watson called his best shot of the day -- "I chipped a low bullet 7-iron" -- on the 18th for a routine par on a hole that makes him nervous, he had a 5-under 67 and a three-shot lead.

If the last two days were not enough evidence, Watson likes to play golf his way.

He has never had a swing coach since his late father showed him the fundamentals at age 10. He once jokingly said he shouldn't take advice from anyone who couldn't beat him. And when asked if his caddie helps him out, Watson replied, "He's not very good. That's why he's a caddie."

Now he's one round away from his first World Golf Championship.

Watson was at 17-under 199, three shots clear of PGA champion Keegan Bradley (66) and Justin Rose, who lost out on playing with Watson for the fourth straight day when he three-putted the 18th from long range and had to settle for a 69.

As for McIlroy, Woods?

They were eight shots behind on a TPC Blue Monster course that is yielding plenty of birdies in moderate wind, but where it's tough to catch a guy with a pink driver who belts it where few others can.

The only other player within five shots of the lead was Peter Hanson of Sweden, who nearly holed a bunker shot from a downhill lie on the 18th and shot 69.

Only once did Watson worry that his shot might go too far.

Having survived a turbulent stretch at Doral -- he lost a four-shot lead over Rose in three holes -- Watson's lead was back to three shots when he was in a fairway bunker on the 16th, just over 100 yards away. He tried to blast a 64-degree wedge, caught too much of the ball, and saw it sail over the green toward a pond Watson didn't know was there.

It hit a tower, dropped to the side and Watson escaped with bogey. He followed with another wild tee shot on the 17th, though he managed to save par with a good pitch from the front of the green. And on a closing hole he called "ridiculous," he had an easy two-putt par.

"All in all, it was a great day," he said.

No one is ready to concede victory to Watson, even Rose, who has seen enough of his action the last three days. They had a better-ball score of 59 on Friday, and 60 on Saturday.

"Three back, it's a lot to Bubba on this golf course," Rose said. "But at least there's not a lot of guys ahead of you. There's only one guy at 17 under, and the rest of the pack is right there, so it doesn't take much."

Matt Kuchar (66) and Zach Johnson (67) were another shot behind. Adam Scott looked as though he might give Watson a run until the Australian started missing short putts, the pulled his tee shot into the water on the 18th and made double bogey. Scott dropped four shots over the last three holes.

McIlroy played the last six holes in 2 over and still shot 65, while Woods failed to do much after his birdie-birdie-birdie start. He twice made bogey on the par 5s and shot 68. They were eight shots behind.

The wind has been decreasing since the opening round, and so have the scores.

McIlroy hit two fluffy wedges at the start of his round, but he atoned for the second one by chipping in for birdie, and away he went. McIlroy shot 30 on the front nine without making birdie on the two par 5s, then made up for that with a fairway metal into about 18 feet for an eagle on No. 10. That put him 10 under for the tournament, only two off the lead.

Watson was still on the practice range, though, and this was a day when just about everyone went low.

Neither McIlroy nor Woods could keep up.

McIlroy hit a good chip from short of the par-5 12th, with his right foot deep in the sand and his left foot on the hill, and converted that into a birdie that put him one shot behind. He was 9 under for the day through 12 holes, and the kid couldn't help but think of a 59.

"You're thinking four (birdies) of the last six and here we go," McIlroy said. "But obviously, it didn't happen like that."

McIlroy made bogey from a poor lie in the bunker on the 14th, and then turned a birdie hole into a bad bogey on the par-4 16th then his lob wedge from the rough barely reached the green. He had to remind himself that 65 wasn't awful.

Woods, meanwhile, made a bad bogey on the par-5 eighth when he pulled a 2-iron over the green, dumped his third shot in the bunker and couldn't get up-and-down. He also took a penalty shot on the par-5 12 and made bogey, and his momentum was gone.

Doral is the only course left on his regular PGA TOUR schedule where he has never finished out of the top 10. That streak remains in play, though he is too far back from the leaders to be considered a serious threat.

"The scores being as low as they are, the winning score is probably going to be in the 20s," he said. "So you're going to have to take care of those par 5s."

Even though both flirted with contention, neither was a factor late in the day.