Round of 69 Helps Watson Forget Pebble Beach

There were some more shaky moments Sunday, a few more of those yips and yanks, but Tom Watson looked relieved when his final round was finished.

Standing near the 18th green at the Riviera Country Club, Watson wore a tight smile and said he was ready to leave California and relax for a couple of weeks before rejoining the tour on its Florida swing.

“I played some good golf today,” Watson said. “I came to play. Sixty-nine at this golf course is a good score.”

Striving to put his recent Pebble Beach putting nightmare behind him, Watson finished four under in the Nissan Los Angeles Open, tied for sixth with Peter Jacobsen.

A week ago, Watson was striking the ball in vintage early-1980s form, and held a two-stroke lead over Johnny Miller with five holes to play at the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Then, succumbing to the putting demons that have been haunting his game for the past seven or eight years, Watson had a series of missed short putts. Miller, at 46 two years older than Watson, won.

“It was a disappointment, but I usually play strong after a disappointment like that,” Watson said. “Some people will dwell on it, but that’s something that only breeds disappointment and heartache.”

Watson, who won won the Los Angeles Open in 1980 and 1982 but hasn’t had a tour victory since 1987, had rounds of 69-71-71-69.

On Sunday, he made birdie putts at Nos. 1, 6, 9 and 13 to compensate for a three-putt bogey at 15 and a a bogey at 18 when he put his approach shot on the left sidehill.

“I played pretty well until I missed a putt at 15,” Watson said. “I missed a short putt there of about four or five feet, and I played the last three holes not very well.

“I made some mistakes yesterday, but I made a lot of good short putts on Friday’s round. I can’t complain too much. Overall, I putted pretty well.”

With Corey Pavin and Fred Couples holding onto their big lead at the top of the leaderboard, Watson, who started the day nine strokes off the lead, said he was gunning for the spot behind the top two.

He finished nine strokes off of Pavin’s winning total of 271.

“I was hoping that I could finish third,” Watson said, “and I didn’t do a very good job of finishing.”