Watson must overtake Furyk, overcome his own challenges
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
INNISBROOK, Fla. -- Yes, Jim Furyk has a three-shot lead. But Bubba Watson's biggest challenge during Sunday's final round of the Transitions Championship just may come from himself.
Make no mistake, the 31-year-old has got the shots. Watson leads the PGA TOUR in driving distance but he's hardly a one-dimensional player. He ranks 21st in greens in regulation and 25th in scoring.
Watson just has a hard time harnessing that abundant energy of his so he can zero in on the ultimate prize. He's getting better at it -- witness that tie for second earlier this year at the Bob Hope Classic, which was his fourth runner-up on TOUR -- but he hasn't quite found the right formula yet.
"I get jittery because I want it so bad," Watson acknowledged. "I want a victory. That's what I've got to learn. I've got to learn how to take deep breaths and slow down everything and hang onto the moment that I'm in right then and not think about a couple of holes ahead."
The words tumble out of Watson's mouth as quickly as his mind goes into overdrive. His caddy tries to rein him in. So does his wife, Angie, who played in the WNBA and knows a thing or two about winning herself. Watson's trainer even gets into the act -- trying to get him to take deep breaths during particularly strenuous workouts.
"When we're doing something hard (he tries to get me) to calm the old heart down and that's the same thing we're doing on the golf course," Watson said. "Try to calm it down and breathe. Don't forget to breathe every once in a while."
Watson is getting closer, though. Some may question his decision to lay up on the final hole in Palm Springs two months ago, but the fact is Watson took the lead into the final round and shot 66 -- without making a bogey -- only to lose to Bill Haas' similarly blemish-free 64.
"It's easier to stomach that one," Watson said. "I was beating him going into that day and he ended up beating me by one. All in all, that was a great day. A great tournament.
"It wasn't any of my doing. All I can do is control what I do and that day was great. Hopefully tomorrow I can play great again and if somebody beats me they beat me."
Watson will start Sunday's final 18 holes at 8 under, tied for second with K.J. Choi, Retief Goosen and Carl Pettersson. All are former champions on the Copperhead Course with Goosen defending and Choi a two-time winner.
In Furyk, Watson knows he's facing one of the best in the game, even if the veteran hasn't won in nearly three years. The two played together on Saturday, and the 31-year-old took note of how Furyk kept focused on the task at hand.
"He's great. You just look at his record and he's played great throughout the years," said Watson, who shot a scrambling 70 to Furyk's 67. "He's just a steady player. I was playing my own game but you watch him -- he birdied four holes and no bogeys. In those conditions today that was pretty good.
"... He wasn't looking at leaderboards. We were just playing our game -- mine was rough and his was good. It's fun watching with someone like that because you can learn a lot. He did what he had to do and he played well."
Watson will be in the penultimate group on Sunday with Pettersson and Luke Donald. They'll start off No. 1 at 9:30 a.m. after tournament officials moved up the tee times in an attempt to beat rainy weather moving into central Florida.
"This golf course is a beast already but with the wind it's even harder," Watson said. "(Furyk's) got a three-shot lead so he's going to have to mess up for us to catch him. It's going to be hard for someone to shoot 65 tomorrow if the weather is what it says it is.
"So something in the 60s will be a great round and that might catch him. It might not. But if someone shoots in the 60s and don't win, they played great because it's going to be tough tomorrow."
Watson, though, would like to do better than just play great.
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