Grading the Northern Trust Open

Bubba Watson, Charl Schwartzel, and Dustin Johnson (again) have great weeks in California.

By Kyle Porter

Feb 16, 2014 at 1:37 pm ET • 2 min read

Bubba Watson shot a crazy 64-64 on the weekend to take the Northern Trust Open by two strokes over Dustin Johnson.

The win is the fifth of Bubba's career but first in almost two years -- since the 2012 Masters.

He pushed a putt at the Phoenix Open from 8 feet that would have gotten him into a playoff two weeks ago but finally put it all together in Los Angeles.

So what was different this week than when Kevin Stadler bested him at the Phoenix Open?

"It's the same thing, the guys just didn't birdie the last few holes this time," Watson said to Peter Kostis on CBS.

Here's a look at Bubba's weekend scorecard:

The craziest part about his win wasn't the back-to-back 64s at a tough place like Riviera, it was that six-hole par stretch down the back nine on Sunday. As Jason Sobel pointed out, that's out of the norm for Bubba.

Bubba Watson needs a seventh straight par to clinch the win. Entering this week, only had two seven-par streaks in his last six tournaments.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelGC) February 16, 2014

He didn't par the last but he did birdie it and the Watson family fist pumps rained down:

Johnson knew he had been beaten by the better golfer this week. "Bubba played really well this weekend," Dustin Johnson said to David Feherty on CBS.

For Bubba, it was the first tournament his son Caleb had seen him win in person. Caleb stole the show at the end with multiple fist pumps and yells for daddy at the end. It was just how Bubba wanted it.

"The whole year is about rejoicing. For me I'm just thinking about how blessed I am to play on the PGA Tour, blessed to have my family -- my beautiful wife and little son -- everything is just gravy right now."

Our grades for the Northen Trust Open:

Player	Grade	Analysis
	A	Bubba Watson became the first winner to go bogey-free in the final two rounds of the Northern Trust Open. An immense few weeks from him.
	A	Charl Schwartzel was my pick coming in and he didn't disappoint. Finished fifth alone with three 68s and a 69. Terrific first performance of the season.
	A	Can the golf gods give a little bit of Dustin Johnson's distance to Brandt Snedeker and a little of Snedeker's putting to Johnson? That would be terrific.
	B	It seems like Jordan Spieth has been in the mix in every single tournament this year. He has yet to learn what closing time is, though. Posted a 71 on Sunday, good, but not winning material.
	D	Hunter Mahan didn't break 70 all week at Riviera. I expected more out of him after a T4 and sixth-place finish in his previous two events.
	F	74-75 from Matt Kuchar for a missed cut. Maybe he was already thinking about defending his Match Play Championship next week.