Winning Ways

Skysports.com looks at all of last week's winners including the WGC champion Nick Watney.

NICK WATNEY - WGC CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER In the bag
Driver - Titleist 910D3
Fairway-woods - Titleist 910F
Hybrid - Titleist 910H
Irons - Titleist AP2
Wedges - Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled
Putter - Scotty Cameron for Titleist Newport
Ball - Titleist Pro V1x
Clothing - Hugo Boss Turning point At the start of the final round Dustin Johnson led by two from Watney, Luke Donald and Matt Kuchar. The front nine saw the four players continue to contend. Johnson birdied the first hole and then played steady golf, Watney caught him, Kuchar and Donald were one behind. But the back nine would make the difference. Johnson was struggling to take advantage on the greens and would make one birdie and one bogey. Kuchar birdied the tenth but then added two bogies to drift back. Donald made two bogies and no birdies. Watney made a bogey on the 11th but either side of that hole he made two par-five birdies and from then on, even when he left himself struggling to make par, he did so with some stunning putting from distance. He confirmed the win with a birdie putt on the final green. His back nine performance had turned the event. Stats Watney didn't just top the scoring at Doral - the stats ranked his all-round game number one too. He was second for Putting Average, seventh for Sand Saves, ninth for Scrambling and Putts per Round, 12th for Greens in Regulation, 13th for Driving Accuracy and 14th for Driving Distance. Since closing the 2010 US Open with an 81 his form has been relentlessly solid. In 15 starts he has only twice finished worse than 21st and nine times he finished in the top ten. Doral was his fifth start of 2011 and every single one has reaped a top ten finish, although this was his first win. Insight At the end of the third round Watney found water from the 18th tee and as he walked down the fairway the TV cameras showed him with his head in his hands. The error had the potential to wreck his week-long challenge but he explained after his win how he had ensured that didn't happen. "(In the third round) I was a bit frustrated with the putts I missed on 16 and 17 when I walked to the 18th tee. (After that bad shot) I had some really good conversations with my team just as far as being in the moment and that's the only shot that matters. "So I'm very proud, just that I was able to execute that tee shot (in the final round). The circumstances were very important, but proud that I allowed myself mentally to make a good swing "I was thinking, I have to be in this moment, right now, because this is all that counts. And then, my caddie Chad, just says, just give yourself time. Get a full turn and give yourself time. So that's what I tried to do. "I wasn't nervous. I was more ... I really wanted to take care of business and to grasp this opportunity. I actually love that feeling you don't get it too often, It's fun. That's why you play." In his words On the relevance of the win: "This means so much. It's the biggest day of my golfing career. You know, with the way yesterday ended and two years ago, it means a whole lot, and I'm very, very excited." On the difference between a solid week and a win: "Top-10 finishes are nice but winning is what counts out here and that's how you're measured." On his improved form: "Yeah, my putting is where I've made strides. But mostly mentally, I work with Morris Pickens, and he's helped me just to develop a process in which the goal is that it the putts I hit practicing out at Butch Harmon's place in Las Vegas mean the same as the putt on 18, which obviously isn't true. But if you can think that way, it makes it a lot easier to putt when you're under pressure. "How did he do it? Well, when I first are started working with him, we discussed what I did think about what I was putting, and it was, you know, this is to go three-under par, or this would be a nice save, or whatever. Instead of - my target is the right edge of the hole or something like that. So I just try to think of where I want the ball to start, and hit it. It's really quite simple to be honest." MICHAEL BRADLEY - PUERTO RICO OPEN CHAMPION Turning point Bradley played in the penultimate group, in front of the leader Troy Matteson, and both players birdied the first two holes of the final round, but there was a key change in momentum prior to the turn: Bradley eagled the fifth and birdied the seventh holes; Matteson bogied the fourth and sixth. Bradley now had a one shot lead. Thereafter Matteson got stuck making pars whilst Bradley, who made bogey on 14 bounced back immediately with birdie at the next hole. He had a one shot lead going down the 18th hole - but that had proved a less than easy prospect all day. We have become conditioned to expect a par-five hole to be vulnerable to birdies but the final hole at Trump International was not like that - of the top 21 players only Fredrik Jacobsen could make birdie ... and Bradley missed a tiddler in regulation to complete a bogey. On the extra hole Bradley made par but Matteson missed a tiny putt of his own for par. The 18th hole had proved crucial. Insight If ever there was a case of course form taking precedence over every other factor, surely this is it? Between his win in the 1998 Doral Open and his surprise first win in Puerto Rico in 2009 he played 153 events, making just three top tens and having a best finish of eighth. The win on the Trump International course didn't really change much. Since that win two years ago he has played 45 tournament and made the top 20 just once. Where was that? 15th at Trump International in 2010! "I enjoy the golf course," Bradley said, unsurprisingly before trying to explain why. "It's tropical like Florida where I live. I like the greens. I like the layout. There's no rhyme or reason why I have played well here. I can't put a finger on it, but I'm not going to question it. ... Don't know why. I don't want to know why." Stats Bradley's ability to hit the greens in regulation was key to his success. He ranked second in the field, leaving his best till last - making 94.4% of the green in the final round. The importance of that stat last week was highlighted by the fact that Matteson was the only player to rank higher than Bradley. His stats for his three trips to the course make for interesting reading. Both this year and in 2010 he hit 81.9% of the greens all week and ranked second in the field. He putted better this year than last (20th for Putt Average rather than 48th). However his first win was not built on a solid long game (he ranked 65th for GIR hitting 65.3%) but had a hot short game that saw him top the Scrambling and Putts per Round rankings. In his words "It would have been disappointing if I would have ended up losing the tournament because I missed that short putt on the final hole and then lost in the playoff, but I don't have to worry about it anymore. It worked out, I guess, in my favour. "You hate to win a championship like that with somebody else missing a short putt. But you know, I'm very happy to be a two time champion of this event now, so I'll move on to next week. AROUND THE WORLD: TOUR DE LAS AMERICAS & CHALLENGE TOUR
Abierto International Copa Antioquia winner - Joaquin Estevez A Sunday back nine of just 30 shots, including four straight birdies to finish the round, enabled the Argentinean player to catch the leader Charles Russo, of France. Once on his birdie run Estevez couldn't stop and made another in the play-off to claim the co-sanctioned event. The victory will give him another tour to play in 2011. EUROPEAN SENIOR TOUR
ISPS Handa Senior World Championship champion - Sandy Lyle The two-time major champion from Scotland claimed his first win for nearly two decades on the World Cup course at Mission Hills in China. His previous win came in the 1992 Volvo Masters but a flawless final round ended that barren run. "My trophy cabinet has been gathering dust over the years," he said. "So I feel relieved to get a win and it's even better that it's here in China on this course. This answers a lot of questions I had about myself."