Bubba Watson: against all odds

The man who walked away with the green jacket at the Augusta Masters may not have added drama to the course, but he did bring in lots of emotion

V. Krishnaswamy
Updated24 Apr 2014, 03:30 PM IST
Bubba Watson of the US with his son Caleb. Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images/AFP<br />
Bubba Watson of the US with his son Caleb. Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images/AFP

Georgia (US): The name has such a musical ring to it, that when you say it once you want to say it once more! Bubba; Bubba Watson. He wears it all on his sleeve: his emotions, his game and his unabashed love for his son, Caleb, his wife Angie, his mom and dad, his caddie, his university and so much more.

Somehow, you know he means each word he says; there is no hyperbole and there is no false sentiment. Like him not getting afraid to smash the ball around or over the pines; hit audacious shots like he did to win his first green jacket (2012) or the simple query to his caddie in the final moments. Watson said at a press briefing, “When he (Jordan Spieth) missed and he was tapping in, I went over to him (caddie Ted Scott) and I said, ‘I’m not very good at math, but we’ve got four putts, right?’”

Then after the win, Watson gushed, “Having my son means more to me than the green jacket.”

With Tiger Woods not there and Phil Mickelson making an early exit and Rory McIlroy barely squeezing into the weekend action, the TV ratings took a hit. In normal times, the roars from the Amen Corner indicate the rising and falling fortunes of the contenders. This time they were absent or rather muted. Maybe in the minds of the fans, the destination for the green jacket had been decided: Watson’s closet.

Because, by the time the Amen Corner was reached, Spieth’s two-shot lead had metamorphosed into a two-shot deficit. So, one could not be blamed in believing that this Masters, that ended on 13 April, was bereft of the drama usually associated with the back nine (the last nine holes). But there was some, and memorable enough.

If the 2012 Masters was won with that slash around the pines in the play-off, the 2014 Masters was sealed with two blinders, the tee shot on the 13th and the punch through the trees on the 15th. All three will go into the Watson’s “Believe It or Not” Hall of Fame shots.

The drive on 13th had Spieth enthralled and stunned as he revealed, “His drive on 13, I’ll never forget. I thought that it was out of bounds 70 yards left and it’s perfect. And I guess he knew that when he hit it too.

“I took two shots and I was a little past his ball. It’s a good set-up for him, I’ll give him that, to hit that slinging slice.”

Even Watson was not certain. “That’s not the line I really wanted to go on. I knew it, when it took off, it was cutting a little too much.… Obviously, when you get a roar on your tee shot, you know it’s pretty good. I could start breathing again once I heard them clapping and roaring.” The drive actually clipped a tree and kept going.

Then on the second on the 15th, Watson decided to gamble on a punch a 6-iron through the pines and over the pond that feeds on golf balls. TV network CBS commentator and analyst David Feherty could not help blurting out, “Oh, he’s lost his marbles.”

Watson’s caddie, Scott, called it, “Bubba golf” and later amended it to, “Freak show.... I asked him on 18, after he hit the tee shot. I said, are you from Mars or something? Because I don’t believe that you can hit these shots that you hit.” But he did.

Watson does not hold back, on or off the golf course. After his stunning back nine on the second day, he was asked, if there was a lingering hangover after the 2012 win and whether that was why 2013 was not as good for him. Watson shot back, “Well, no, I was still celebrating my green jacket. How many green jackets you got? If you had one, you would celebrate it for a year or two.”

Turning emotional, he added, “No, you’ve got to think about where I’ve come from, my mom having two jobs to pay for my golf, my dad working in construction. And when you think about that and where I am in my career and where I am in my family, my young family; you’re thinking about how great this was. Besides the Lord, marrying my wife and having our child, it’s right there, it’s fourth or fifth on the list.

The family means a lot to Watson and keeps recurring in his conversations. “Bubba” was named so by his father, Gerry Lester Watson Sr, after the former pro football player Bubba Smith. Watson’s father died in 2010 of throat cancer, leaving mother Molly and sister, Melinda.

The 6ft, 3 inches committed Christian turned pro in 2003, and in 2004, he married Angela (Angie), whose enlarged pituitary gland is the reason for her 6ft, 4 inches height. They met in Georgia, where he was on the golf team and she played basketball. She disclosed to Watson on their first date that she could not conceive.

After one failed attempt to adopt a girl in March 2012, Watson and Angie adopted a one-month-old boy, Caleb. A couple of weeks later, Watson won his first Major, the 2012 Masters.

“So when you think about that, it’s an accomplishment for a guy named Bubba, with my mom, my upbringing. My year, my career was complete after that win.

“So yeah, obviously I was going to hang over. Never been drunk before (he is a teetotaller), but (it was) a hangover from the green jacket.… You know, I do everything my way. I learned the game my way. I figured it out my way.”

On 2012 and 2013, he admitted sponsor days and signing tens of thousands of pin flags too affected him. “I flew to (golf equipment maker) Ping; I did a Ping day. I talked to every worker there, signed 5,000, 10,000 flags.”

And the final stanza—on his tears. Again he was candid: “The day that I got my Tour card, it was the Nationwide Tour back then. And I cried, I could never do an interview. I was the last man to get the Tour card, and I couldn’t get a word out because, I mean, what a blessing.

“So for me, it’s a dream to be on the PGA Tour. It’s a dream to win, and winning any tournament is a big deal. Winning the green jacket is a little bit bigger deal. So, yeah, I’m going to cry, because why me? Why Bubba Watson from Bagdad, Florida? Why is he winning? So I just always ask the question why, why me.

“That’s why I’m always going to cry, you know. I’ll probably cry again tonight sometime, just thinking about it,” said Watson, who now lives in a mansion, previously owned by Tiger Woods, in Isleworth in Windermere, Florida. Talk of ironies!

V. Krishnaswamy is the author of Sachin—A Hundred Hundreds Now.

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First Published:24 Apr 2014, 03:30 PM IST
Business NewsNewsBusiness Of LifeBubba Watson: against all odds

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