Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines settled with a second straight even par round on tough conditions at the Doral Monster course to finish a strong tie for 35th in his first stint in the World Golf Championship.
Pagunsan’s four day 4-under total 284 netted him US$60,500 or a whopping P2.5 Million. He finished ahead of such notable players as Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods who withdrew after injuring his knee in the final round.
Justin Rose expected a moment like this, posing on the 18th green of the famed Blue Monster at Doral with a World Golf Championship trophy in his hands. It’s the rest of the script that made Sunday so surprising.
The biggest charge came from Rory McIlroy, eight shots behind until he crept within one of the lead late in the round.
The early departure came from Tiger Woods, who muddied his Masters future by limping off the course after 11 holes with soreness in the left Achilles tendon, the one that caused him to miss two majors last year.
Bubba Watson went from a collapse on the front nine, when he lost his three-shot lead in four holes, to a clutch shot on the final hole when he hit a bullet of a 4-iron out of the palm trees to 9 feet from the cup that put one last scare into Rose.
All that drama, and Rose didn’t realize he had won until he was on the practice range and heard nothing.
Watson missed the birdie putt.
Rose closed with a 2-under 70, a score he didn’t think would be nearly good enough to win. Ultimately, all he knew about—or cared about—was winning the Cadillac Championship.
