At No. 16, which was his final bogey, he found himself plus-5 on the day and 6 under for the tournament. He finished strong with a par on No. 17 and an eagle-3 on the 528-yard final hole for a 74-276 total. That resulted in a finish of 8 under for the tournament and a tie for 16th.
“Obviously, it didn’t go well, I’m not in the playoff,’’ said Watson, referring to the battle for the tournament title between Webb Simpson and Chez Reavie that was won by Simpson on the second playoff hole. “You know what? It was tough. I didn’t have my best stuff today. I felt good, I felt great, I just didn’t have it. It was one of those things where I had it at the beginning of the week, but I didn’t have it today. I ended on a good note, I made that one on the last hole.’’
On No. 18, he was the picture of efficiency, something he lacked for most of the final day. His tee shot was 334 yards down the middle of the fairway. His second was 186 yards to the left side of the green and he made a remarkable putt of 53 feet, 6 inches, which sent the gallery into a tizzy.
If it was a frustrating day for the leader after Round 3, it was equally tough for Scott and Kelly, both of whom had double bogeys on their cards.
Scott had one eagle (on No. 2), six birdies, and six bogeys in his round plus the double on No. 14. Two of his birdies came on Nos. 17 and 18. But bogeys plagued him on the back nine. He had five between holes 8 and 16. He wound up at even-par 71 for the day and 10 under for the tournament, which was good for a tie for eighth place.
Kelly had 12 pars, two bogeys, three birdies, and a double bogey on No. 10 to finish plus -1 for the round and 9 under overall, tied for 10th place. Kelly said his putter completely let him down.
“I hit the ball better than I have all week,’’ he said. “I had four three-putts and that pretty much ruined my day. I hit it, without the three-putts, at 3 under, so I just didn’t get the job done on the greens, bottom line.’’
If there was a net gain for all three, it was in the FedEx Cup standings. Watson moved up four places, to No. 12. Scott surged to No. 16, seven spots higher than last week, and Kelly went from No. 47 to No. 40. So even though it wasn’t their day in terms of the way they played the final round, there was a positive amid the disappointment.
It turned out to be a day of celebration for Simpson, who won his second tournament in three starts. And for Watson, Scott, and Kelly, it was yet another lesson that the golf gods giveth and the golf gods taketh away.
“It’s golf,’’ said Watson, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s a tough game. Four days straight of playing great golf is hard to do. We knew that somebody was going to come out of the pack or some people were going to start off really hot. I birdied the second hole but I just didn’t have anything after that. I just didn’t have it.’’
He certainly wasn’t alone.
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.
