Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Triumph of the Individual









There are very few players that shape shots anymore; I marvel at the players that can visualize and shape shots. Lee Trevino, Bubba Watson and Severiano Ballesteros possess/possessed an innate ability to see and control ball flight. Some things simply can not be taught. These three view/viewed the golf course very differently from most golfers. They are the savants of the golf world,if you will. They are a dying breed in a golf world dominated by pros reliant on the technological equipment advances and tinkered with by swing doctors.

A few weeks ago, after the Doral Cadillac Championship, Bubba Watson was attempting to verbalize why he did not feel the golf course suited his eye. If you watched the final day of the tournament you were privileged to see Bubba pull off a ridiculous second shot out of the rough,through trees and over water, landing 9 feet from the flagstick on the 18th green, under pressure. He went on to miss a tough putt to tie Justin Rose and force a playoff but,he left a lasting impression on everyone viewing. My Twitter feed was loaded up with questions of astonishment like,"did he just really do that?" Anyhow, after seeing this shot it was hard for the commentators to reason what Bubba was talking about when he said this course does not suit his eye. He tried to explain to the press that he prefers desert courses where he sees several colors and not just green.

As of this past Sunday, Bubba Watson is going to be wearing and seeing a lot of green because he won the Masters in dramatic fashion during a sudden death playoff on the 10th hole, known as Camelia. Once again he pulled off a magical shot from out of position, through pine trees,hooking 40 yards and landing on the green. He two putted to seal the victory.

My children can readily identify two professional golfers upon sight, Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson. My Husband is a huge supporter of Tiger Woods and I am a die-hard fan of Bubba Watson. I took my children to meet Bubba prior to the 2011 US Open at Congressional and we all had our picture taken with him. Naturally, my Husband and I followed his group at the US Open too. Any week that Bubba is contention I end up hoarse from cheering him on. I've won Twitter contests that Bubba has held. A portion of a prize I won in the Bubbaclaus contest of 2010 was one of Bubba's ball markers,I use this ball marker in every round golf I play. My friends find it hysterical that I call this ball marker, the BM(the Bubba Marker) but they also rue this lucky item in our putting games.

Sunday afternoon I was on pins and needles for the duration of Bubba's round. I was saying Hail Mary's for him to retain his focus,not get jittery and not decelerate putts. His play so badly deserved to be rewarded with a major that I was living and dying with every stroke,as I sat with my family watching from Pinehurst, NC. When he finally tapped the winning putt in, I knew the inevitable was going to happen, Bubba was going to cry and then I was in turn going to cry too. When I saw, Ted Scott, Bubba's Caddie and then, Bubba's Mom rush onto the green my eyes welled up with tears. This happens to me every time Bubba wins because I feel like a win for him, is a win for individuality,self assuredness, embracing God given talent and it bolsters a genuinely good individual.

Yesterday, I read some blogs bemused, asking whether Bubba was good for golf after his big win at Augusta. The greatest golfer in the history of the game, Tiger Woods is enduring a prolonged swing identity crisis and here is a guy in Bubba Watson that told his caddie once, "if I have a swing,I have a shot" and I wonder what the people posing these hypothetical questions are thinking. Really, are they kidding me?


  • Awe inspiring imaginative golf is really,really good for the state of the game. 
  • An athlete who wears his heart on his sleeve,struggles to focus and then still pulls off a victory is good for the game. 
  • An athlete that speaks for himself,not through a myriad of filters is good for the game. 
  • A human being that apologizes when he makes a mistake is good for the game. 
  • A kid that comes from nothing and manages to do real well for himself is good for the game. 
  • A successful golfer that gives a tremendous amount back is good for the game.

If you need further evidence about whether Bubba is good for the game, watch him hitting driver off the deck into the green at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions 2011. http://youtu.be/AzzpQ5EhPck

And no Bubba, UR Welcome