Watson wins Zurich Classic

Bubba Watson two-putted the second playoff hole for birdie and defeated Webb Simpson to earn his third career PGA TOUR title at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Watson and Simpson, 54-hole co-leaders, both carded 3-under 69s in the final round at TPC Louisiana to finish at 15-under 273. Both players made birdie putts on the first extra hole.

Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson, playing in the same group, both eagled the 542-yard, 2nd hole today.  Watson rolled in an eagle putt from 9’ 1” to get to 14-under and leapfrog Simpson for the lead. Simpson countered by canning his own eagle putt from 6’ 3” to retake the lead at 15-under par. Watson’s eagle was his third of the week.

Webb Simpson was assessed a one-stroke penalty on the 15th green. Simpson had missed his birdie putt of 40’ 4” and walked up to tap in his par putt from 1’. After he took his stance and grounded his putter, he started his stroke when the ball moved, a violation of Rule 18-2.B. After consulting with Rules Official Gary Young, he was required to replace the ball in its’ original position and add one stroke to his score.  Simpson was at 16-under par at the time and leading Bubba Watson by one shot. The penalty resulted in a bogey-5 and dropped him into a tie with Watson at 15-under.

Today’s playoff was seventh on the PGA TOUR this year and the second consecutive week extra

holes were needed. Brandt Snedeker defeated Luke Donald on the third playoff at The Heritage last week.

Tommy Gainey two-putted the final hole for a birdie and posted a 3-under 69 to finish T3, his fourth top-10 of the year and his second in a row (3rd at The Heritage last week). Gainey has made the cut in nine of 14 starts this year and moved up from No. 30 to No. 23 in the FedExCup standings. In 40 career starts prior to this year, Gainey had only one top-10 finish.

Jason Dufner fired the best round of the day, a 6-under 66 that pushed him to 13-under par and T3.  Dufner was bogey-free today and his round included birdies on three par-3s.

Luke Donald, who entered the week No. 3 in the world rankings, posted a 3-under 69 today and was part of a five-way tie for eighth place. Donald earned enough FedExCup points (75.00) to overtake Mark Wilson but will remain No. 2 on the list because winner Bubba Watson earned enough (500.00) to leap past both players in the season-long race.

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