While Dustin Johnson was wiping everyone off the face of the map Sunday in Los Angeles, a lot of golf’s big names saw the writing on the ball and went through the motions.
Leading the list of face-plants was defending champion Bubba Watson. Watson decided he didn’t like the rain, and typically he doesn’t. Watson didn’t even give his playing partners the courtesy of finishing the second round with them. Bubba found himself eight-over par with a few holes left to play in the second round Saturday and simply decided to pick up his ugly pink golf ball and go home.
Correct, the defending champion, realizing he wasn’t even going to come close to making the cut, picked up and left. See ‘ya guys. Well done Bubba, way to defend your title.
Former world’s No. 1 Jason Day never got it going, it fact, he hasn’t done a lot to start this season and that’s one of the reasons he’s no longer No. 1. Day shot rounds of 70-70-75-71 and finished in a tie for 64th. Seventy-one players made the cut.
How about Hideki Matsuyama? Hikedi-san started off quite well with a 68 but then had his worst round of the year — the dreaded snowman — anyone know how to say “snow-man” in Japanese? Eighty is “hachi-ju” so we’ll leave it at that. Hideki was down the road, maybe headed for Florida.
Patrick Reed, who seems to play his best when he can huff, puff, turn red-in-the-head and scream his lungs out, you know — Ryder Cup stuff — well, Reed couldn’t break an egg either. Rounds of 72-60-69-74 left him in a tie for 59th.
Jordan Spieth was the one big name who had a decent showing. Spieth was in the hunt after opening with rounds of 69-68 but his final 36 on Sunday saw him go 72-69. He was six-under and tied for 22nd.
Overall, a dismal showing by the big names. But it probably didn’t matter much. Nobody was beating D.J., in fact, no one came close.
