Feb 17, 2018 4 min read

Back to his day job, Bubba Watson began with a tap-in eagle at Riviera and finished with a 6-under 65 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead over Patrick Cantlay in the Genesis Open.

Watson, a two-time winner at Riviera, has gone two years since his last victory and has fallen out of the top 100 in the world.

But he loves L.A. – and not just the golf course.

Taking in the full entertainment this city offers, Watson took part in the NBA All-Star celebrity game Friday night and made the wrong kind of highlight when he passed up a jumper, drove toward the basket and was rejected by Tracy McGrady.

He also shot an air ball from just inside the top of the key.

Watson was much better with a golf club in his hand. He chipped in from short of the par-3 sixth green, made two more birdies to go out in 30, and then began the back nine with a birdie on No. 10, his least favorite hole at Riviera. The only blip was a bogey on the 15th.

Watson was at 10-under 203 and will be in the final group with Cantlay, the former No. 1 amateur in the world and polar opposite of Watson.

Cantlay thrives on his ability to keep his head on the shot in front of him, and to keep his emotions from swinging too much – swinging anywhere, really – in either direction. He ended his round with a 55-foot birdie putt for a 69 to get within one shot of Watson.

Cameron Smith (65), Kevin Na (67), Graeme McDowell (70) and Tony Finau (68) were two shots back. Suddenly in the mix was defending champion Dustin Johnson, who told his brother at the turn that he had 27 holes to show what he had. Johnson then shot 29 on the front nine for a 64 and was four shots behind.

As much attention as Cantlay’s long putt on the 18th gets, it was a series of pars on the front nine that saved him.

That started with a short-sided bunker shot and a 10-foot par putt. He missed the green left on the par-3 fourth hole and hit a lofted chip to 3 feet. He made a 10-foot par putt on No. 5 and another one that length at No. 7.

His best work came on No. 6, the par 3 with the bunker in the middle. It goes in the books as a two-putt par. It was so much more.

Cantlay pulled his tee shot to the left side of the green, with the pin on the other side of the bunker. Cantlay figured he could putt around the high side of the bunker that assure himself a 15-foot par putt from below the hole.

Durant shoots 63, takes Champions lead: Joe Durant birdied five of the last eight holes for a 9-under 63 to match Steve Stricker’s finish and take the second-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ Chubb Classic.

Durant rebounded from a three-putt bogey on the par-4 10th with birdies on the next two holes and also birdied Nos. 15-17. He had a 14-under 130 total on TwinEagles’ Talon course for a one-stroke lead over Stricker. Stricker had nine birdies in a bogey-free round. Playing alongside John Daly, Stricker birdied three of the last four on the front nine and birdied the last two for a back-nine 31.

First-round leader Miguel Angel Jimenez was two strokes back. He birdied three of the last four in a 68 after opening with a 64.

Lee Janzen (67) was 11 under, and Kevin Sutherland (68) and Scott McCarron (68) were another stroke back. Daly was 8 under after his second 68. Three-time champion Bernhard Langer had a 70 to get to 5 under.