FOCUS ON Don’t write off the chances of forgotten man Bubba just yet
TWO-TIME Masters champ Bubba Watson will arrive at Augusta this week as almost a forgotten man.
In fact, the only headlines the Floridian southpaw has grabbed of late have been for his dramatic weight loss and his switch to previously-unheralded Volvik balls with their luminous colour schemes.
Already famous for his pink Ping driver, in support of breast cancer charities, Watson has taken to playing either pink or yellow balls this season.
Unfortunately, that, combined with a dramatic weight loss, has seen him struggle to make any impact on the PGA Tour this year.
And any punter in his right mind would quickly dismiss backing any golfer to win anything if that player admitted to having problems concentrating, a fear of crowds, a fear of doctors and a fear of the dark. Even though his price is 33-1! Bubba pleads guilty to all of the above and, despite winnings of around $36-million and 10 wins, will feel all those misgivings when he goes for a third Green Jacket this week.
“I’m just so fearful of things, scared of buildings falling on me, scared of crowds, those are my biggest issues,” he admits.
“For me, golf is totally nerve-wracking,” he says. “In between holes is really scary to me because there is that many people so close to you
“The physical side is easy for me. I can hit it far. I can curve it. I’ve got the shots. It is just mentally being in that moment which is difficult to explain.
“You want to focus on what you are trying to do, on what you’ve got to do at that moment in time. But then your head wanders.
“It is difficult to explain because you’ll have practiced the shot for years. It may be an easy shot to pull off, but when the moment comes, it becomes a lot tougher in your head.”
There is the side of Watson that has been seen by millions on TV when he’ll berate his caddie by claiming a bad shot is all the caddie’s fault for giving him the wrong club.
“I just have to let my anger get out, but 10 seconds after it, Ted Scott my caddie and I are back to normal,” claimed Watson.
One thing not in the 38-year-old’s head is his recent form which many see as a prolonged slump for the Florida backwoods native.
“That is one word that never crosses my mind,” he protested. “I never see myself in a slump, although, I’ll admit, I’ve had some bad rounds along the way.
“You will always miss short putts or hit a ball out of bounds. All that stuff is going to happen.
“But it is never the putter’s fault or the driver’s fault. I just see it as a bad day and I’ll play better tomorrow.
“If I play two bad days, well, hey, next week. Life is too good and too short to worry about all that.”
Well, wife Angie Watson might not have been worrying, but after years of nagging at Bubba to work out, her husband met her half-way and went on a diet.
And that, he claims, resulted in poor performances until he finally figured out what was wrong.
“It was the weight loss that came with the diet,” he insisted.
“I wouldn’t say it hurt my game. But it could have made me get out of ‘whack’ with my ball position. I couldn’t play the game again as I have always done – and the way I WANT to play.
“The putting is back in the groove, thanks to a tip from Brooks Koepka, and it is fun to play golf again,” he laughs.
And, ominously for the field at Augusta this week, the two-time course-anddistance winner is brimful of confidence.
“Yeah, everything is back to normal, and I can’t wait to drive up Magnolia Lane again,” he beamed.
Certainly his close friend Ricky Fowler believes when Watson is in this frame of mind it’s a case of: ‘Look out everybody, here comes Bubba’.
“It is pretty amazing what he can do,” said Fowler. “Just about anything is possible with him on a golf course.
“Or, put another way, nothing impossible for him. He is a freak!”
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