By mustang6560 on 5/2/11

Bubba Watson was the beneficiary of Webb Simpson's bad luck on Sunday en route to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The victory was his second PGA Tour victory of the year and the third of his career.

Watson overcame a three-stroke deficit over the final eight holes of regulation and beat Webb Simpson in a playoff Sunday in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for his second PGA TOUR victory of the year and third of his career.

"My wife, my caddie and my trainer would say my attitude's in the right spot," Watson said. "This week, I won (by) not getting down on bad shots, just staying focused on what I'm supposed to be doing."

On hole 15, Simpson had a long birdie putt. He left his putt a foot from the hole and decided to tap in. As he took his putter back, the ball moved a hair. He stopped his backswing and called a rules official who unfortunately had to assess him a 1-stroke penalty.

"I better limit my comments on that rule, because I think it's such a bad rule," said Simpson, who seemed to think windy conditions, combined with relatively dry, hard greens, caused the ball to move. "When the wind or other natural things affect the golf ball, the player shouldn't be penalized. ... It was just unfortunate, but Bubba deserves a win, and I'm pretty happy for him."

I couldn't agree more with Webb. This rule is antiquated and needs to go away. If the player did not cause the ball to move, they should not be assessed a penalty. This was almost as bad as what happened to Brian Davis in the playoff last year at The Heritage. Such is life of a professional golfer.

Bubba is my boy, but I cannot help but feel for Webb. He was playing great and (basically) the only thing that prevented him from winning for the first time on Tour was a bad break. Despite Webb's bad break, Bubba made a clutch (clutch!) birdie putt in the first playoff hole to extend the match. Webb had already birdied the hole and Bubba was facing 12-foot, downhill putt that he had to make. Bubba played well all week and earned the victory, even though he did get some luck in the end.



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