Bulldogs, Garber Take Third In Puerto Rico

Greyson Sigg and his Georgia teammates came in third Tuesday in the Puerto Rico Classic.

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico --- The No. 7 Georgia men's golf team came in third in the Puerto Rico Classic on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs posted a final-round tally of 12-under 276 to wind up at 29-under 835 for the three-day event. Alabama took team honors at 45-under 819.

The Bulldogs' 29-under finish matches the eighth-lowest tournament figure in school history.

Senior Keith Mitchell paced the Bulldogs on Tuesday as he fired a 5-under 67. Freshman Greyson Sigg added a 4-under 68, while senior Joey Garber signed for a 2-under 70 and sophomore Lee McCoy had a 1-under 71. Senior Michael Cromie had Georgia's non-counting score of even-par 72.

Garber wound up third at 11-under 205, just one stroke behind co-medalists Miller Capps of Clemson and Robby Shelton of Alabama. There have been just five lower tournament totals in school history. Sigg took sixth at 9-under 207, while Mitchell was 12th at 6-under 210. McCoy finished at 3-under 213 and Cromie at 3-over 219.

"I thought by and large we were pretty solid all week," Georgia coach Chris Haack said. "Every tournament is part of the process, so we'll take the good and the bad back to Athens and keep plugging away. I like this team a lot, and I think we have the potential to do some good things."

The Bulldogs will return to action March 7-9 in the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters in Las Vegas.

• This week's PGA TOUR stop is the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The field includes Brian Harman, Hudson Swafford, Russell Henley, Erik Compton, Chris Kirk and Brendon Todd, while Kevin Kisner, Ryuji  Imada and Justin Bolli are among the alternates.

• In the FedExCup Points standings, Harris English is No. 3, Bubba Watson is No. 4, Kirk is No. 5 and Todd is No. 25.

Watson Sets Georgia Record With Fifth PGA TOUR Victory

Bubba Watson celebrates his win with his wife, Angie, and their son, Caleb.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bubba Watson wasn't about to let another chance get away.

Two weeks after Watson made a pair of late bogeys in the Phoenix Open, he delivered the best closing round at Riviera in some three decades. Watson played the final 39 holes without a bogey and shot a 7-under 64 on Sunday to win the Northern Trust Open.

It was his first victory in 22 months and 41 tournaments worldwide dating to the 2012 Masters.

Watson wound up with a two-shot victory over Dustin Johnson, who closed with a 66 for the second straight week and got the same result.

Watson won on the PGA TOUR for the fifth time, setting the all-time mark for Georgia golfers.

This wasn't Bubba golf as much as it was simply great golf.

Watson, who also shot 64 on Saturday to start the final round four shots behind William McGirt, made up ground so quickly that he broke out of a four-way tie for the lead with a birdie on the eighth hole and made the turn in 30.

Equally critical were a pair of par saves with 7-foot putts on the 12th and 13th holes.

Johnson, who was second at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am last week after a final-round 66, made birdie on the 15th hole to get within one shot. He didn't give himself good birdie chances on the last three holes.

Watson made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th to cap off the best closing round in this tournament since Doug Tewell shot a 63 in 1986. Even sweeter was going up the steps toward the famous clubhouse to see his 2-year-old son, Caleb, whom Watson adopted just before his Masters victory.

"When I won the Masters, it was just me," Watson said. "Family members were there, but not my wife and not my son, who was just adopted at that point, and now is two weeks away from being 2 years old. What a thrill. We'll have some pictures with him and my wife and the trophy, so it's nice."

Watson won for the fifth time in his career, and he had to earn it. With no margin for error over the closing holes, he managed to get out of a deep fairway bunker on the 15th hole to the front edge of the green. He smartly played to the middle of the green on the par-3 16th hole for a par. Facing the uphill tee shot on the 18th, he blasted his drive down the middle of the fairway and hit wedge into 15 feet to the right of the pin.

And when it was over, he felt a lot better than he did two weeks ago in Phoenix, where he missed a short par putt on the last hole to lose by one to Kevin Stadler.

Brian Harman came in third at 12-under, while Harris English was 10th at 9-under, Brendon Todd was 35th at 3-under and Erik Compton was 59th at 1-over. Hudson Swafford and Russell Henley each missed the cut.

Garber Named To Ben Hogan Award Watch List

Joey Garber (at left, shown with Lee McCoy) is on the watch list for the Ben Hogan Award.

Senior golfer Joey Garber has been named to the 30-player watch list for the 2014 Ben Hogan Award, according to an announcement by the Colonial Country Club, The Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America.

The Hogan Award is presented annually to the nation's top player taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the past 12-month period.

The 10 semifinalists will be announced on April 16 and the three finalists will be determined on May 7. The winner will be crowned at a black-tie banquet at Colonial Country Club on May 18 before the start of the PGA TOUR's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

Garber, a senior from Petoskey, Mich., completed the fall portion of Georgia's schedule with an SEC-leading scoring average of 69.75 in four events. He won The Invitational at The Ocean Course, was second in the Dick's Sporting Goods Collegiate Challenge Cup and took fourth in the Carpet Capital Collegiate Championship. Garber is nation's No. 2-ranked collegiate player in both the Golfweek/Sagarin and Golfstat individual rankings.

Previous winners include Georgia's Chris Kirk in 2007.

• Garber, Lee McCoy and Michael Cromie filmed a segment with this week with Atlanta's WSB Channel 2. It will air on Saturday at 10 a.m. as part of the Bulldogs Gameweek show.

• The PGA TOUR will resume its schedule Thursday through Sunday in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. The Bulldogs scheduled to participate include Harris English, Brendon Todd, Russell Henley, Hudson Swafford, Brian Harman, Erik Compton and Bubba Watson.

• The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am concluded last Sunday, with Todd as the top Bulldog at 1-over in 45th. Henley was 52nd at 2-over and Kirk was 61st at 4-over. Kevin Kisner had "made the cut, did not finish" status, while Harman, Swafford and Justin Bolli missed the cut.

• In the FedEx Cup standings, English is No. 2, Kirk is No. 3, Watson is No. 21 and Todd is No. 25.

• The current Bulldogs are hard at work preparing for the 2014 portion of their schedule. Coach Chris Haack's charges will return to action Feb. 23-25 in the Puerto Rico Classic.

• The 2014 Tee-Off Club membership brochures have gone out. If you have any questions about the Tee-Off Club, contact Denise Saliba by email or 706-369-6066.

• Remember, this is your blog. Please share any news you have on tournament wins, holes-in-one, births, etc., with Denise at the above email address. 

Seven Bulldogs In The Pebble Beach Field

Bubba Watson finished as the runner-up at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Sunday.

The always-popular AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am will be played this week, with seven Bulldogs slated to be in the field.

Justin Bolli, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner, Hudson Swafford and Brendon Todd will participate Thursday through Sunday at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California. Kirk was the 2013 runner-up to Brandt Snedeker.

This year’s celebrity list includes NFL quarterbacks Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, actors Andy Garcia and Kurt Russell, musicians Kid Rock, Jake Owen and Darius Rucker.

The event will be televised Thursday and Friday from 3-6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 1-2:30 p.m. on the Golf Channel and Saturday and Sunday from 3-6 p.m. on CBS. PGA TOUR Radio will broadcast on Sirius XM and PGATOUR.com.

• At the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Bubba Watson came in second to Kevin Stadler at 15-under. Tied coming into the par-4 18th, Stadler hit his 110-yard approach to the back right pin to 10 feet and Watson drove into the right rough and hammered his 120-yard second over the green. Watson's shot from the trampled rough ran five feet past the hole. After Stadler missed his birdie try and tapped in for par, Watson's par try slid by the left side.

"He beat me," Watson said. "He's a great player. I thought I hit a good putt, but obviously I misread that, too,"

Afterward, Watson Tweeted: "I played solid all week, got to keep practicing! 2nd is first loser!! #GolfIsHard"

Harris English was ninth at 12-under, while Erik Compton was 48th at 2-under and Kirk was 76th at 5-over. Harman and Henley missed the cut.

• In the FedEx Cup standings, English is No. 2, Kirk is No. 3, Watson is No. 17 and Todd is No. 25.

• The current Bulldogs are hard at work preparing for the 2014 portion of their schedule. Coach Chris Haack's charges will return to action Feb. 23-25 in the Puerto Rico Classic.

• The 2014 Tee-Off Club membership brochures will be going out in the next few days. If you have any questions about the Tee-Off Club, contact Denise Saliba by email or 706-369-6066.