USA TODAY International Edition
Watson gains attention for wins, not club or shoes
AUGUSTA, Ga. – During Bubba Watson’s resurgent campaign in which he’s made the pink driver a weapon again and won twice on the PGA Tour, his eccentric powers are again stunning onlookers across the land.
Also catching their attention are his G/Fore golf shoes. You can’t miss them. From a par-3 away, you can see the large “G” and “4” on the shoes.
“You know how bad I played last year?” Watson said with a smile on his face earlier this year. “I started wearing these last year and nobody knew. I wasn’t very good and I was never on TV.”
That’s Bubba at his self-deprecating best. But the two-time Masters champion has put his two-year slump behind him, a time when the big-hitting lefty’s world ranking hit triple figures, his weight dropped 30 pounds because of an undisclosed illness and his confidence bottomed out, so much so that last year he contemplated retiring from golf.
But the 39-year-old has regained his passion for golf, he’s physically and mentally strong again and he’s shaping shots all over the course. In other words, he’s again playing Bubba Golf — unorthodox swing, extraordinary power, creative mind, delicate touch and artistry.
That has him among the favorites to win the Masters.
“My life’s in a great spot,” Watson said. “Golf sometimes makes it in a bad spot, but I’m just in a right frame of mind and I understand what I want to do with my life and where I want to go in my life.”
Last year, he went in the wrong direction.
Watson credits his rebound to the team around him, including his wife, Angie, and his caddie, Ted Scott, who Watson said cheered him on and helped him “come out of a dark place.”
“Golf is really easy when you free it up,” Watson said. “It’s very difficult when you’re not thinking properly.”
Watson is up to 11 PGA Tour titles and has risen to No. 21 in the official world golf rankings after winning the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club north of Los Angeles and the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin.
But at Augusta National, he doesn’t want to hear talk about being in the conversation of Masters favorites. Yes, he has won twice and understands why many think he can add a third green jacket. But in nine Masters starts, he has just two top-10 finishes — his victories in 2012 and 2014. He next-best finish is a tie for 20th.
In 2013, Watson was making a run and getting into contention for a top-10 finish when he made a 10 on the 12th hole.
“Made a 20-footer for 10, by the way,” Watson said. “Every hole can be a disaster and every hole can be amazing.”
Golf is hard, Watson will tell you, and he said he didn’t have an answer when asked about his feast or famine ways at Augusta National, though he joked, “I got lucky twice?” Yes, he said, experience helps, but making putts means more for one’s success.
“It comes down to making the putts. It’s miss-hitting the putt that goes in. Or reading it right and making it,” Watson said. “The experience is dealing with the pressure. It’s the knowledge of keeping your head down and keep on playing, because the game of golf is crazy.”
Seven months ago, Watson said he couldn’t have seen himself in the position he’s in right now. He’s thinking freely, swinging freely, living freely.
“There’s no pressure on me,” Watson said. “The only pressure is what we put on ourselves. You can let it get to you, but if you prepare the right way, if your body feels the way you want it to, you play good golf.
“It’s a challenge. We all know that everybody else is playing well, so we’ve got to be on top of (our) game to force the Sunday charge to put on a green jacket.”