Bubba: Loose shots cost me

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 24: Bubba Watson was left to rue some loose shots and an energy-sapping final round at Port Royal as his PGA Grand Slam of Golf bid came apart on the back nine.

Attempting to chase down eventual winner Padraig Harrington, Watson forced the issue but dropped shots on 15 and 16 – the latter a double bogey – to fall out of the picture.

In the end he had to settle for tied third with Keegan Bradley as the two both finished on three under. After well over five hours out on the course, Watson admitted he was spent.

“I have about four and a half hours I can play golf and the rest is just wasting time so we went about an hour over my schedule!

“But it was a good day, I just got some loose swings trying to create some stuff with Padraig playing so well. I was stuck in a tree and I chose the wrong club at the par 16, and made a quick double there, and then I was out of it so the rest of the two holes were a case of ‘get down and get out of here’.”

A spot of jetsking the day before resulted in a stiff back but the US Masters champion insisted he was fine, but admitted he wasn't able to hit the ball quite as fully as he’d have liked.

He said: “I’m fine, there’s no pain. We jetskiied yesterday and my main man isn’t here to give me therapy. It’s just tight so I couldn’t hit some shots I wanted to, especially with the full driver. But a day of rest and I’m back to normal.”

Signature hole 16 lived up to its billing again, as Watson was forced to reload after his initial tee-shot flew wildly out of bounds.

He said: “I hit a four iron today – I was going to hit a five iron and hit a low bullet. A four iron bullet would have been too much, I sliced it and when it got up in the wind it was toast.”

For Keegan Bradley, today was a happier experience on the course after his troubles on day one. The highlight, undoubtedly, was an eagle at 14 that drew arguably the loudest cheer of the two days' competition.

Bradley said: “It was 129 yards downwind from the left and I hit a 52 degree wedge. It was the perfect yardage and as soon as I hit I said be good and it just kept spinning back into the hole. It’s awesome and weird when you see it go in because you always see it almost go in, so when you see it drop it’s pretty clever. No matter who you are and what tournament you’re playing, watching your ball go in the hole is awesome.”