McIlroy two off lead in California

American Bubba Watson had one thing in mind over the weekend and that is what he did after reclaiming the title at the Northern Trust Open (NTO) golf tournament with a one stroke lead over Australian golfer Adam Scott.

FRASER WINS BY TWO: Marcus Fraser, 37, made a curling 18-foot par putt on the final hole for a 3-under 68 and a two-stroke victory in the inaugural Maybank Championship Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.

But he made bogey from the fairway on the 15th, had to scramble for par on the next two holes and narrowly missed a birdie on the 18th that ended his chances.

Johnson, who briefly tied for the lead Saturday after a birdie on the par-3 16th and stayed within one shot with an outstanding par save of his own on No. 18, said he expects somebody to break the logjam in the final round. “I really enjoyed it. This is definitely going to be a regular for me on the schedule going forward”. Beyond the kidney stone he said he passed on Monday, he met the cast of the TV show “Girl Meets World” and attended the Clippers’ game on Saturday night, where singer Justin Bieber and boxer Floyd Mayweather were among the stars he chatted up.

Watson, who led after the third round, closed with 3-under 68 to finish at 15-under 269 for a one-shot win, his ninth career victory on the PGA Tour. Morgan Hoffmann (75) finished at 4-over and pocketed $13,668.

Sometimes, he said, “I want to go and hide”. “I was trying to hit it hard, but just tugged it off the tee”.

“Five years ago (my doctor) said there was one more in my system and obviously it decided this week”.

Watson is a course and distance victor, having repelled Dustin Johnson to win the 2014 renewal, and the fiery lefty has become even more comfortable since then with carrying a lead.

McIlroy made an uncertain start as he three-putted the first green, but he knocked a pure 196-yard approach to four feet at the next and rolled in the putt only to give the shot straight back when he missed the green at the third and could not get up and down.

Scott (67) did brilliantly to birdie the last two holes but stalled on 14-under, while Kokrak shot 68 and had to settle for joint second place on that mark.

“A guy like Bubba, he’s very tough to beat”, Scott said.

“I’m just saying, the mental stress, that I had to just bite my tongue, sometimes when things are written or things are said, and there was a lot of things said in between those ropes”. “I thought, ‘this is feeling pretty good.’ I would like to have an official victory here”.

Needing to make the putt to force a playoff, Kokrak hit what he thought was a flawless putt, but it just rolled over the edge.

Watson is among the golfers with the longest drives in the PGA Tour.

Top-ranked defending champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand was second after a 67.