• Bubba blasts Grace with front nine magic

    Branden Grace
    Grace could do little to stop Bubba

    Bubba Watson produced some of the finest matchplay golf you will ever see to leave Branden Grace helpless at the WGC-Dell Match Play.

    Grace stood no chance of getting himself into the contest after a front nine birdie barrage from Watson, who won earlier in the year at the Genesis Open.

    The former Masters champion played his first nine holes in seven under  to lead 7up as he rattled off birdies at one (18-foot putt), two (5.5-foot), three (27-foot), four (26 foot), six (six-foot), eighth (14-foot) and nine (11-foot) while he averaged just short of 10 feet per hole played on Wednesday.

    That putting display was more than enough to secure a first-round win, even if Grace reduced the deficit from six to four on the back nine.

    The South African wasn’t dreadful by any stretch, he didn’t make a bogey and was two under through 14.

    ‘Look at what [Rory] McIlroy did last week [at the Arnold Palmer Invitational],’ said Watson, who ran out the 5&3 winner.

    ‘When you putt like that, you have a chance to win a golf tournament. So today the golf tournament was one day, one player I had to beat. Today I made the putts.

    ‘Tomorrow he’ll make the putts and maybe have a chance to win his match. So it was just today it was going my way. The greens were on my side.’

    Birdie count:

    8 – Watson

    2 – Grace

    *In the second Group 11 match, Julian Suri defeated Marc Leishman 3&2

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