Bubba Watson scrapes through at Classic of New Orleans

Bubba Watson has a slim chance of defending his title at the Classic of New Orleans

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Saturday, 28, Apr 2012 09:29

Posted by James McCann

Bubba Watson narrowly made the cut at the Classic of New Orleans to keep his faint hopes of defending his title alive.

The big-hitting American, who won the 2012 Masters, was one of the tournament favourites heading into the first round, but has struggled to recapture the form that helped him lift the trophy 12 months ago.

With leader Jason Dufner out at 12-under, Watson knew that he had to end the second round at least ten shots off the pace to guarantee he would be playing at the weekend, and a second consecutive 18-hole score of 71 ensured that the Florida native just made it.

However, Watson will have his work cut out ascending the leaderboard, with world number seven Steve Stricker and England's world number ten Justin Rose both in contention at 10-under and 5-under, respectively.

World number two Luke Donald also has the opportunity to regain the number one ranking from Rory McIlroy and will be aiming to build on his 6-under 72-hole score and finish inside the top seven to add another chapter to his see-saw battle with the Northern Irishman for the top spot.

Other key contenders at the TPC of Louisiana in Avondale include Scotland's Russell Knox and American Ken Duke, who sit one shot off the lead at 11-under, and Australia's Greg Chalmers and South African Ernie Els, who are a shot further back.