CROMWELL, Conn. -- Bubba Watson has built out a case, a firm one, as the best golfer of 2018. On Sunday, the booming lefty came back from six strokes down in the Travelers Championship to win by three strokes (finishing 17-under) and dominantly claim the 12th PGA Tour win of his career. His victory came thanks to an emphatically impressive lob wedge shot from 71 yards that landed two feet to the hole. on No. 18 There's something about River Highlands -- the Connecticut course that's got a special, positive voodoo to it -- that has endeared great endings in recent years. Just last year, for example, Jordan Spieth holed out from the bunker to win. And now, Watson's dart on 18. The short birdie putt that came after that roar of a moment wound up giving Watson a one-stroke lead on Paul Casey, who held the lead for more than 25 consecutive holes to that point. "You had to fly it over the bunker and get it to check somehow," Watson said. "It's one of those where it could have easily went short in the bunker or over the green, just because you guessed wrong on how it's going to come out. The lie was kind of tight down there. So to open the 63-degree up to try to cut it a little bit to add spin to it. For it to come off perfect like that, I knew as soon as I hit it, you could tell the distance was right." This is the third Travelers title of Watson's career (2010, 2015 were the others). Billy Casper, who won the tournament four times, is the only other person to win this event at least thrice. Watson shot a 7-under 63 on Sunday to get him 17 strokes below par for the four-day aggregate. The Travelers trophy also gives Watson his third win of the year. This amounts to a full-fledged resurgence. After failing to win a PGA Tour event in 2017, he's blasted up to third in the FedEx Cup thanks to this; Watson was sitting in 15th heading into the Travelers. Fitting for him to win, as Watson's been a longtime proponent of the event and helped its rise in popularity over much of the past decade. When he won the Travelers in 2010, it was the first PGA Tour victory of his career. Watson's six-stroke comeback also amounted to a nine-stroke turnaround on the final day, the biggest swing in the event's history. (Brad Faxon came from seven back in 2005, the largest deficit in this tournament's history, but won via a playoff.) And how about this for Watson: He's won 11 stroke-play PGA Tour events and has come from behind on the final day to win seven of them. Watson made his push, and knew he had a chance once he sunk an up-and-down save on 15. "The fist pump on 15, that's when I thought I had a shot at it," Watson said. The crowd was behind him, too. He also had a big-time chip-in on 10 to nab birdie, one of five he'd take on the back nine. With inclement weather approaching, Watson aggressively chased pins tight pins and knew that the winds were going to be factor. Prior to his mesmerizing wedge plop on 18, Watson took out the driver and played aggressively off the tee -- even against his inner instinct. "If we're going to lose the golf tournament, let's lose it hitting the big dog," Watson said. Afterward, an unusual ceremonial scene. Torrential rains blasting eastward through Connecticut held off just enough for the tournament to conclude, but they dumped hard just as the trophy presentation was being held in the media interview room/media tent ... which then begin to pool water and flood. Watson -- after nearly 45 minutes of waiting -- finally took questions from the press inside the media workroom. Watson was close to the heart afterward; he was self-aware. A polarizing player whose reputation as a gruff competitor has undeniably cost him in some ways, Watson said a change in his approach in the past year has helped his success this year. He also said some health issues, which included significant weight fluctuation, threw him off track in 2017. "After last year, who knows what to expect," he said. "It's amazing what good energy and some healthy energy will do." Watson even said he called his caddie after Saturday and apologized for his poor attitude in the first three days at the Travelers. Old habits can be hard to shake, but the fact he's openly talking about his faults indicates that something is changing with him. He cited fatherhood and his young children growing up also playing a big part. Now he's looking like the best golfer in the world in this intriguing golf season. Consider this: Watson won amid a 156-player field that featured 15 other players who'd won at least one major. That kind of competition in a non-major event is a rarity on the PGA Tour. He excelled when the weather was at its stickiest and the competition very much in flux. Grade: A Here are the rest of our grades for the Travelers Championship, which is establishing a reputation as one of the true must-watch non-majors in golf. Paul Casey (T2): Nightmare finish for Casey, who is playing well as of late, but found himself gagging away what should have been his third PGA Tour victory. In fact, Casey lost this event to Watson in a playoff in 2015. On Sunday, he entered 14 under and holding a four-stroke lead. By the time Watson made his birdie on 18 to take a one-stroke lead, Casey was wrapping up 15, which he parred. He then pushed a four and a half footer on 16, missing par and dropping two back on Watson. Casey followed that up by putting his tee shot in the drink off to the right on 17. It was a brutal bend the wrong way for Casey, who waited until holes 70 and 71 of the tournament before logging consecutive bogeys. Grade: B- Stewart Cink (T2): No one made up more ground on the final day than the 45-year-old Cink, who went from a tie for 20th to a tie for second. He finished 14 under, in a tie with Beau Hossler, J.B. Holmes and Paul Casey. Cink, like Watson, is a multiple-time winner of the Travelers event, and through the first two hours, he was playing his way toward a potential third title. Cink shot a 29 on the front nine, then took a pair of bogeys on the back before settling with an impressive tournament-low 62. With golf, so much of how you're judged is how you close. Cink was at his best -- and calmest -- Sunday. Grade: A- Jason Day (T12): A good-not-great tournament for Day (11 under), who was always lingering but never threatening. However, it can't get lost in the aftermath of the Travelers that Day actually almost went full Spieth on the 18th in the final round. No, this wasn't in the sand, and no, this didn't a trophy, but it echoed what Spieth did in 2017. Day tied for third in birdies at the Travelers (22 of them) but was held back because he bogeyed 11 holes. He graded sixth in driving distance but 38th in driving accuracy. Day's still doing fine for himself in 2018; in January he won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, and in May he took the Wells Fargo Championship title. Grade: B Rory McIlroy (T12): McIlroy ended up at 11 under, done in by a few of TPC River Highlands' tricky and skinny holes that have water hazards. His power is made for this course, but he's yet to threaten for a title despite playing the event often. His highlights at this year's tournament came when a squirrel scampered across the first tee box on Saturday, and his 43-foot chip for eagle later in the round. I can say firsthand that the New England locals love them some McIlroy. He commanded galleries as large as anyone else this weekend. Grade: B Brooks Koepka (T19): Koepka was playing with the deepest pockets of house money imaginable at this event. Coming off his second straight U.S. Open title, the 28-year-old found himself amid a spotlight few were expecting to shine. Koepka's comeback from a wrist injury earlier this year has given proof to his talent and potential. He's now in the top four of the World Golf Rankings, and in Cromwell, he finished 9 under. Strong play after the U.S. Open championship; if Koepka had slouched out and failed to make the cut, no one would have blamed him. Instead, a respectable four-day showing. Grade: B Jordan Spieth (T42): The 2017 champ, who won this underrated tournament last year in one of the most epic ways imaginable, was irregular and layman-like in his follow-up appearance at the Travelers. Spieth, who finished 4 under, had just 13 birdies in 72 opportunities. That's a strikingly low amount given how well the rest of the field played this year on a course that must have felt pillow-soft after the hectic and hellish nature of Shinnecock Hills at the U.S. Open the week prior. Spieth's frustration played out on occasion. He ranked 55th in approach shots and 40th around the green, and of course, that will get you every time. It's hard to repeat at the same event. Grade: C<doc-sep>CROMWELL, Conn. – Bubba Watson didn’t like the attitude he displayed during the first three days of this week’s Travelers Championship. He was miserable about his opening even-par 70, feeling he gave away too many shots due to mental mistakes on a TPC River Highlands course that has treated him so well. Not even a second-round 63, a score that allowed him to make the cut, was enough to cheer his spirits. “Even that day, I was upset,” he said. So on Saturday night after his third-round 67 that wasn’t nearly as productive as he hoped, he sent caddie Ted Scott a voice text – “I can’t spell, so I voice text,” Watson said – to apologize. Bubba said his attitude needed to be better. Scott texted back and told Watson not to worry, to just keep his head down and move forward. “You’re playing great,” Scott told him. “Let’s just have fun out there tomorrow and see what happens.” Indeed, Bubba and his caddie had plenty of fun Sunday. Starting the day six-shots behind leader Paul Casey, Watson posted his second 63 of the week to zoom past the Englishman to win his third Travelers title. It’s also his third win of the PGA TOUR season, the most of any player as he climbs to third in the FedExCup standings. Of course, Watson needed help, specifically from Casey, who started his round with a four-shot lead but fought his swing all day and made just one birdie, on the opening hole. Casey’s 2-over 72 opened the door for someone to make a move. No surprise that it was Watson, whose second Travelers title in 2015 also came at Casey’s expense in a playoff. “I didn't get it taken care of today,” Casey said. “Credit to his great play. I would have loved to have won outright or at least have another go at him in a playoff would have been nice. But not to be.” Watson had made up just two shots on Casey at the turn, but a hole-out from the greenside rough at the 10th started turning things serious. When he reached the 16th tee box, Watson – playing four groups ahead -- had caught Casey. Still, the outcome remained in doubt when Watson stood over his approach on the 18th fairway, a downwind, tight lie from 77 yards. It was difficult to get any spin on his shot, but Watson found a way, setting up a 3-foot birdie that sealed the deal. Scott put his arm around Watson and simply said, “Amazing shot.” Watson’s first Travelers win – and the first of his TOUR career – came in 2010. Since then, he and wife Angie have adopted two kids, Caleb and Dakota. He’s won two majors and now has 12 career wins. Things have changed. Big, positive changes. But his growth as a person continues. Perhaps the apology to Scott on Saturday night is one small indication of that. “Our joke as a team is I've changed more than anybody in the world from when I got on TOUR to now,” Watson said. “You know, it's just growing up. We're going to make mistakes. I'm going to three-putt, I'm going to duff chips. I'm going to do a lot of things on the golf course bad and off the golf course bad and I'm going to have to apologize. Like I said earlier, I'm the fastest to apologize. “I've got two kids now. They're watching me. They're going to see. They're going to find out YouTube at some point. They're going to see old videos and hear things. … It's a learning curve for me, but it's also helping me. It's helping me grow. I've been able to grow as a person and as a man.” He’s certainly grown as a player. Three wins and counting this season. And if he has to apologize for something along the way, no worries. Even that works out pretty well.<doc-sep>
William S. Paxton Special to USA TODAY Sports CROMWELL, Conn. — Paul Casey might love playing the Travelers Championship, but Bubba Watson owns it. Coming from six shots back on the final day, Watson defeated Casey once again to capture his third Travelers Championship and the $1.26 million top prize. Watson shot 7-under-par 63 to deny Casey a victory at TPC River Highlands for the second time in four years. Watson also won in 2015, beating Casey on the second playoff hole for his second title. “I wasn’t really focused on winning the golf tournament until we got to the last three holes,” said Watson, 39, who earned his first PGA win at the 2010 Travelers while his father was battling cancer. “That’s when I fist-pumped on 15 because I knew we had a shot at it." Billy Casper is the only player with more success in this tournament, winning it four times. This win gives Watson three for the season, the most on the PGA Tour, and 12 for his career. More:Brooks Koepka overcomes lack of focus to finish strong at Travelers More:Many golfers using Travelers as tune-up for British Open After a 366-yard tee shot on the par-4 18th hole, Watson dropped his second shot two feet, 6 inches from the pin. He made the birdie to take a one-shot lead, then waited for Casey to finish his final four holes. The final round started off ordinary for Watson with four straight pars after he entered the day at 10-under. He birdied the fifth and sixth holes but gave one back with a bogey on No. 8. “It’s one of those where you’re just trying to make some birdies,” he said. “He was so far ahead all you are trying to do is play your golf and try to get to second place, third place or whatever.” A 356-yard drive on the par-4 ninth hole put Watson on the green, and he went on to birdie it. After birdies on No. 10, 12 and 13, Watson tied Casey at 16-under with an 11-footer on the 15th hole. Meanwhile, Casey opened the round with a birdie on the first hole to move to 17-under, but bogeyed the fifth. The rest of the round was nothing but pars until he dropped two shots back with a bogey on the 16th, then lost another stroke with a bogey on No. 17. “I was fighting it and I didn’t have my swing all day,” said Casey, who tied for second with three others at 14-under. “I battled as hard as I could, but to only make one birdie all day is not good.” Following his 62 on Saturday, Casey, who held a four-shot lead after three rounds, said it would be difficult to repeat the performance. His prediction rang true, finishing with a 2-over 72. On the other side, Watson opened the tournament at even par, but turned it on the next three days. “My caddie Teddy (Scott) told me, 'There’s 72 holes so just keep playing,’” Watson said. “I came back the last three.” The field included five players in the world’s top 10. Seventh-ranked Rory McIlroy and Jason Day (No. 9) tied for 12th at 11-under. U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka (No. 4) tied for 19th at 9-under, while No. 5 Jordan Spieth was 4-under and No. 2 Justin Thomas at 2-under.