Bubba’s back, with popularity booming
DUBLIN, Ohio — As the pro-am for the Memorial Tournament was about to begin shotgun style at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, spectators began to scatter for prime viewing venues.
A large crowd went to the first tee to follow Tiger Woods. Another large group set off for the fifth hole, where Rickie Fowler would begin his round. Others ventured to the seventh hole, where Phil Mickelson would start.
The largest wave, however, took off to watch group 11A to start tracking Bubba Watson — a folk hero who walks to the beat of his own drum and carries a big pink driver to the enjoyment of an expanding fan base.
It’s just the latest change for the big-hitting lefty from Bagdad, Fla., whose life recently has been in a constant state of flux. Big flux.
Two weeks before the Masters, he became a father as he and wife Angie adopted 1-month-old Caleb. At Augusta, Watson hit the hook shot heard round the world with a wedge out of the Georgia pines in a playoff on the 10th hole, slipping on a green jacket a few minutes later for his first win in a major championship.
Then things really got hectic. Watson, 33, got little chance to relax the next two months despite playing one tournament. Besides fatherly duties that included feeding, bonding, changing diapers and playing with his son, the Watsons have been house hunting while trying to sell two homes. He also received honors from two cities in Florida’s Panhandle.
During all of this, he orchestrated Tuesday’s Bubba Bash, a concert featuring 10 Christian bands that raised money for a hospital in Kenya. Staying true to himself, Watson had the Waffle House provide the backstage meals.
And the adoption process for Caleb still has to be finalized.
“A lot of stuff is still going on in my life,” he said. “A lot of positive things, (but) nothing bad. But it’s just different changes.”
The latest change greeted him at Muirfield Village Golf Club, where he began adjustment to a much brighter and larger spotlight. An accommodating sort to begin with, Watson has seen longer lines waiting for his autograph and a larger contingent of news media waiting for one-on-one interviews.
While Watson said he turned off his cellphone during his sabbatical from the PGA Tour, his manager, Jens Beck, hardly put his phone down.
“It hasn’t stopped since the Masters,” Beck said of the endorsement offers and interview requests.
Watson isn’t 100% sure what to expect this week — “I know I’ll be rusty,” he said — but he hopes to take a lesson from last year and finish the season on a higher note than he did in 2011. After he won the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego and the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, Watson’s game fell off, and he had one other top-25 finish.
“I didn’t know how to deal with that, winning two times in a year,” he said. “Hopefully I learn a lot quicker this time.”
Tournament host Jack Nicklaus won’t be surprised if he does.
“He’s got, to put it mildly, a rather unique golf swing,” he said. “To his credit, which is to me what the game is all about, it’s learning who you are and what you are and what you do. Bubba knows what he’s doing with his golf club. He’s a unique individual that’s really bringing some new life and new fun into the game.”