LOS ANGELES: Bubba Watson acknowledged he had thoughts of retirement last year after a form slump but they were put on hold after his two-stroke victory at the Genesis Open in Los Angeles on Sunday. Watson holed a bunker shot at the 14th hole to set the stage for achieving his career goal of a 10th PGA Tour title. The long-hitting left-hander carded a closing 69 to finish at 12-under 272 for his third victory at Riviera, after previous successes in 2014 and 2016. Fellow Americans Tony Finau (69) and Kevin Na (69) tied for second on 10-under. Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer also won the event, previously known as the Los Angeles Open, three times each. An emotional Watson revealed that he had considered retiring after a dismal 2017 campaign during which he struggled with a new ball, which he has since discarded, among other issues. The two-times Masters champion dropped outside the top 100 in the world – 117th when he arrived at Riviera – but will move into the top-50 with his latest victory. “My goal has always been to get to 10 (wins),” a misty-eyed Watson said in a greenside interview. “There so many emotions going through my head right now. You never know if you’re going to play good again, never know if you’re going to lift a trophy again. “I thought about retirement … I mentioned it about 10-12 times to my wife. We sat down and had many talks about it because physically I wasn’t ready to play.” The 39-year-old said he had plenty of other business interests outside golf to keep him busy if he had retired. Defending champion Dustin Johnson finished tied for 16th at four-under, a stroke better than four-times major winner Rory McIlroy. Published in Daily Times, February 20th 2018.