8am Round-Up: Bubba Watson wins in Los Angeles

Bubba Watson holds his trophy after winning the Northern Trust Open golf tournament. Picture: AP

The two-time Masters winner, who held the overnight lead, claimed victory thanks to back-to-back birdies on the 16th and 17th which put him ahead of clubhouse leader Adam Scott and Jason Kokrak on 15 under.

Kokrak, who was playing in the final group with Watson, was within inches of sending it to a play-off as his birdie putt at 18th trickled just wide, meaning Watson’s par sealed a second win at the Riviera Country Club following victory there in 2014.

“You never know when your last win is going to be, so for me to come back and pull one out and win in a tough way means a lot and is very special to me and my family,” Watson told Sky Sports.

Watson might have been expecting Rory McIlroy to provide his biggest threat, but the world No 3 faltered badly in the final round and fell out of contention.

Starting two shots behind Watson, McIlroy enjoyed the dream start as he eagled the par-five first but his round went south after that as he hit seven bogeys in his four-over-par 75 which left him nine shots off the pace on six under.

Dustin Johnson finished fourth on 13 under while Scotland’s Martin Laird was the highest-placed European in tied 11th after a 69 saw him finish on eight under.

America’s Ryan Moore finished in the top 10 and had even more reason to cheer as he produced a superb hole in one on the 16th.

Moore’s tee-shot on the 166-yard par three landed in the rough on the front of the green and took a kind bounce before rolling into the hole.

Martin Laird finished as the leading British player, closing with a 69 to tie for 11th on 276 to pick up $144,160.

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George Coetzee finished birdie-birdie-eagle two days in a row on the Montagu course at Fancourt to win the 2016 Dimension Data Pro-Am by one shot.

Dean Burmester looked on helplessly as Coetzee weaved his magic after the final round shaped up to be between Burmester and Darren Fichardt.

But Coetzee’s grandstand finish drew him level with Burmester after Fichardt dropped a shot on the par-four 15th.

His brilliant approach to the final green knocked the wind out of Burmester’s sails.

Coetzee closed with a 66 for a 21-under-par total, beating Burmester (67) by a shot.

“I finished off strongly yesterday on 16, 17 and 18, so I thought to myself that I just needed to keep myself in the mix until those three holes, but I wasn’t expecting to do the same thing,” Coetzee said.

“But I’m very happy that I did and luckily it was enough to get the job done.”

Scott Henry, the sole Scot to qualify for the final round in South Africa’s version of the Dunhill Links Championship, finished in a tie for 56th on two-under.