LOS ANGELES -- Bubba Watson wasnt about to let another chance get away. Patrick Willis Jersey . Two weeks after Watson made a pair of late bogeys in the Phoenix Open, he delivered the best closing round at Riviera in some three decades. Watson played the final 39 holes without a bogey and shot a 7-under 64 on Sunday to win the Northern Trust Open. It was his first victory in 22 months and 41 tournaments worldwide dating to the 2012 Masters. Watson wound up with a two-shot victory over Dustin Johnson, who closed with a 66 for the second straight week and got the same result. This wasnt Bubba golf as much as it was simply great golf. Watson, who also shot 64 on Saturday to start the final round four shots behind William McGirt, made up ground so quickly that he broke out of a four-way tie for the lead with a birdie on the eighth hole and made the turn in 30. Equally critical were a pair of par saves with 7-foot putts on the 12th and 13th holes. Johnson, who was second at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am last week after a final-round 66, made birdie on the 15th hole to get within one shot. He didnt give himself good birdie chances on the last three holes. Watson made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th to cap off the best closing round in this tournament since Doug Tewell shot a 63 in 1986. Even sweeter was going up the steps toward the famous clubhouse to see his 2-year-old son, Caleb, whom Watson adopted just before his Masters victory. Watson finished at 15-under 269, and he wasnt the only big winner. Jason Allred, who went to college up the coast at Pepperdine, played bogey-free for a 68 and tied for third with Brian Harman, who also had a 68. Allred was a Monday qualifier, and this was his first regular PGA Tour event since he last had his card in 2008. The tie for third was a career-best for the 33-year-old Allred. He earned $388,600, which is more than he had made in his entire career, which included two full seasons on the PGA Tour. He now is exempt into the Honda Classic, which starts in two weeks -- about the time his wife is due with their third child. "Well have fun figuring out what that looks like," Allred said. Watson won for the fifth time in his career, and he had to earn it. With no margin for error over the closing holes, he managed to get out of a deep fairway bunker on the 15th hole to the front edge of the green. He smartly played to the middle of the green on the par-3 16th hole for a par. Facing the uphill tee shot on the 18th, he blasted his drive down the middle of the fairway and hit wedge into 15 feet to the right of the pin. And when it was over, he felt a lot better than he did two weeks ago in Phoenix, where he missed a short par putt on the last hole to lose by one to Kevin Stadler. Johnson, meanwhile, now has finished among the top six in all four tournaments this season -- including a win in Shanghai and consecutive runner-up finishes. His other start was at Kapalua, where he tied for sixth. "I had a chance there on the back nine, I just didnt have good looks on 16, 17 and 18 to give myself a chance," Johnson said. "I was still right there. Thats all you can ask for." McGirt, who had a two-shot lead to start the final round as he tried to win for the first time, opened with a birdie and stalled after that. And on yet another gorgeous day at Riviera, this was not a day to stall. The pack behind took aim and made birdies, particularly Watson. Watson hit a perfect tee shot on the par-3 fourth that rode the slope to 15 feet for birdie. He holed a bunker shot from left of the sixth green for birdie. And a 15-footer on the eighth gave Watson his fifth birdie of the round, and the outright lead. That allowed him to break out of a four-way lie among McGirt, Schwartzel and Harman, who made three straight birdies in the middle of the front nine. So many others were positioned just one shot behind, including Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Allred. The tournament was decided by birdies -- and not making bogeys. The pivotal stretch came on the back nine. The 12th through the 16th were the five toughest holes at Riviera in the final round. Johnson got through them in 1 under, despite hitting only one green. Watson made a pair of 7-foot par saves on the 12th and 13th holes, and he made a 4-foot par putt on the 14th. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., closed with a 73, and finished at 4-over 288.Carlos Hyde Authentic Jersey .com) - Top-seeded former winner Novak Djokovic, who survived an injury scare, and defending champion Andy Murray highlighted Fridays third-round winners at Wimbledon. Bruce Ellington Authentic Jersey . Stamkos suffered a broken leg 10 weeks ago and continues to rehab in hopes of returning to the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup before the Olympic break. As a result of the positive feedback from the X-ray, Stamkos will continue to ramp up both on- and off-ice workouts.NEW YORK -- Rookie Mason Plumlee and the reserves were flying high, so Brooklyns starters took a seat. Plumlee scored a season-high 22 points and matched his best with 13 rebounds, and the Nets used their best defensive first half in eight years as the springboard for a 93-81 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night. Brooklyn held New Orleans to 28 points in the first 24 minutes, its lowest total since also allowing 28 against the Lakers on Nov. 27, 2005. The Nets were fueled by their reserves, with their top three scorers coming off their bench and no starters finishing in double figures. "Any time we can rest our older guys -- its no secret were old, so we look at this as a win in a couple of ways," Plumlee said. "We can rest them and keep them fresh, and going into All-Star break thats good." Mirza Teletovic had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets, who improved to 13-5 overall and 9-2 at home in 2014. Alan Anderson scored 13 points in the Nets first victory in their NBA history with no starters in double figures, according to information provided to them by Elias. Anthony Davis had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Pelicans, who had won seven of 10. They used big fourth-quarter comebacks to win their previous two games, but fell too far behind to come back in this one. "First four or five possessions we just didnt run our offence with any kind of zeal the way that weve been running it at home," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. The Nets jumped to an 11-0 lead while the Pelicans were missing their first seven shots. Brooklyn shot 65 per cent to New Orleans 25 per cent in the period, opening a 29-14 lead on Plumlees dunk with 40 seconds remaining. He kept playing above the rim in the second, soaring to catch Jason Terrys alley-oop pass with his right hand and slam it down on a fast break -- Terrys 5,000th career assist -- and later slamming home the miss of Terrys 3-point attempt to make it 42-21 with 5:02 to go. Terry, a former Sixth Man of the Year winner, said the reserves were disappointed in their performance the last twoo games. Patrick Willis Authentic Jersey. "Our job as a bench is to come out and make an impact on the game, and we did that tonight and J-Kidd rewarded us with lengthy playing time," Terry said, referring to coach Jason Kidd. "So felt good, we got the win and we must continue to get better as a unit." The Pelicans were on an embarrassing pace of a barely a point per minute for most of the half, trailing 48-21 more than 20 minutes in, and the Nets led 51-28 at the break. New Orleans briefly trimmed it to single digits during a 32-point third quarter, but the Nets quickly finished them off early in the fourth, again with Plumlee and the reserves on the floor. The Pelicans, who were playing the first of three straight on the road while the NBA readies their arena to host next weekends All-Star festivities, had easily their worst first half of the season and shot just 56 per cent from the foul line for the game. "We just didnt play (well) tonight," Davis said. "We know it. Coaches know it. Everybody knows it." Tyreke Evans, the former Rookie of the Year who the Pelicans signed during the off-season, didnt play. Williams called it an "internal" issue. Brooklyn improved to 9-9 against Western Conference teams, joining Indiana and Miami as only East teams with a .500 or better mark against the stronger side. The Nets host Charlotte on Wednesday, then play seven straight on the road and arent back at Barclays Center until March 3. Notes: Nets centre Kevin Garnett had to leave the game early in the third quarter after a foul from Alexis Ajinca drew blood. He returned shortly after with a bandage on the left side of his head. ... Brook Lopez, who was leading the Nets in scoring before he was lost for the season after breaking his right foot again, said he isnt worried about his future. "Im not scared at all. Im confident Im going to get back on the floor and Im going to do everything I can," he said. "Theres no doubt in my mind Ill be out back on that floor playing with my guys." ... New Orleans fell to 13-6 against the East. ' ' '
