World Golf News - 03 May 2011

On the US PGA Tour, Bubba Watson claimed his second title of the season when he won the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. In the sunny weather of Louisiana’s spring season, the American held his nerve to reel in competitor Webb Simpson thus forcing a playoff. Watson used the final eight holes of the fourth round to zero Simpson’s three stroke lead, which was further reduced by a one stroke penalty on the fifteenth. When Simpson’s ball found sand on the final playoff hole, Watson sailed a birdie putt into the hole to claim victory. This is Bubba Watson’s third career win on the PGA Tour and marks a newfound consistency in the American golfer’s game.

The European Tour made its way to South Korea last week, where Britain’s Lee Westwood was victorious at the Ballantine’s Championship. Westwood, who is back in the number one spot and keen to retain his position, played an impressive final round with not a single dropped shot in the final eighteen holes. Westwood’s closest competitor in the final round was the Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, who played an impressive day’s golf but could not equal Westwood’s score to force a playoff. Third place went to local favourite Park Sang-Hyun. South Africa’s Ernie Els, former world number one who earlier that week had advised Westwood to win a major and silence his critics, was far from the top ten.

On the LPGA Tour, Sweden’s Maria Hjorth won the Avnet LPGA Classic held in Mobile, Alabama. The tournament had been lead by teenage golfing sensation Alexis Thompson earlier in the final round, but as the young player faded during the course of Sunday’s play, the more experienced Hjorth was poised for victory. Carding a five under par 67 for the final round, Hjorth was two strokes ahead of South Korea’s Kim Song-Hee. Thompson finished the tournament tied for nineteenth place.