Another Weekend Of Sports

Bubba Watson hadn’t won over the last two years on the PGA Tour, even thought about retirement as his game evaded him. And then he returned to a course he might as well call home at Riviera for the Genesis Open.

Watson won the tournament for the third time to end his drought. Watson shot played the tournament at 12-under par, topping Kevin Na by three shots.

Watson has said he suffered from an illness he won’t disclose and that it impacted his game. Now he has his 10th career win on the PGA Tour, three at Riviera.

“It was the lowest point I’ve ever been at in the game of golf,” he said of the winless stretch. “The last year-and-a-half, almost two years, give or take, it’s been a struggle because I want to be at the top.”

DAYTONA 500: Twenty years after Dale Earnhardt Sr. won the Daytona 500, young driver Austin Dillon, in that iconic No. 3 car, won the Great American Race on Sunday. Dillon evaded three huge wrecks and one he caused with a tap on the rear of Aric Amirola’s car on the backstretch of the second overtime lap. That cleared the way for him to hold off Bubba Wallace to win. “This is so awesome to take the No. 3 car back to Victory Lane,” Dillon said. “This one is for Dale Earnhardt Sr. and all those (Dale) Sr. fans. I love you guys. We are going to keep kicking butt the rest of the year!”

NBA: The NBA All-Star Game provided some fun in the fourth quarter as Team LeBron (James) defeated Team Stephen (Curry) 148-145 in Los Angeles. More of the discussion was about the over-the-top entertainment, the overexposed Kevin Hart and a strange rendition (or rending) of the national anthem by Fergie. LeBron scored 29 points and was named MVP.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The Associated Press poll will get its weekly shakeup Monday afternoon after losses by No. 4 Xavier, No. 5 Cincinnati, No. 7 Texas Tech and No. 10 Auburn. Only a couple of games remain for most teams before the start of conference tournaments.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman