Unlike many of the other players near the top of the World Golf Rankings, Bubba Watson was not a world class player almost from the moment he turned professional.
Watson’s college career started in an unusual place for someone who has won two of the last three Masters – Faulkner State Community College in Alabama. He joined the golf team at Georgia in the Fall of 1999, several months after the Bulldogs won a national championship, and enjoyed a successful junior season, making honorable mention All-America.
But Watson spent his entire senior season on the sidelines, with the exception of the annual Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, where he competed as an individual after winning the tournament title the year before.
Watson qualified for what was then the Nationwide Tour in his second attempt and spent three seasons honing his game, narrowly earning his PGA Tour card with an assist from Jason Gore. Watson finished 21st on the money list in 2005, with the top 20 moving up to the PGA Tour in ’06. Gore received PGA Tour status when he won his third tournament in ’05, opening a spot for Watson.
In his PGA Tour debut at the age of 27, Watson placed 4th in the Hawaiian Open, and tied for 3rd in Tucson. He enjoyed a solid rookie year, easily retaining his tour card, and followed with three more excellent seasons, with the lone stain on his record the lack of a victory.
After placing 2nd for the fourth time on the PGA Tour in 2010, Watson collected his first title later that year in Hartford, and almost added a major shortly after that, losing in a playoff to Martin Kaymer in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
Winless as a professional at the age of 31, Watson now has seven victories, including two of the last three Masters, a World Golf Championship and the Los Angeles Open, one of the most highly prized titles among PGA Tour events.
Watson has risen to third in the World Golf Rankings and currently holds the distinction as the highest ranked American player. He will defend his Masters title next month and is looking to be the first player to take home a green jacket three times in four years since Jack Nicklaus in 1966.
“It’s overwhelming to win twice, to be with the great names (that have done that),” Watson said after his victory last year. “Small-town guy named Bubba now has two green jackets. It’s pretty wild.”
Watson’s win last year occurred in a different manner than his playoff triumph over Louis Oosthuizen in 2012, when he hit one of the most spectacular shots in tournament history to extricate himself from deep in the trees right of the 10th fairway.
Both wins, however, did require comebacks. He trailed by three shots after 54 holes in 2012 and was four back early in the final round after Oosthuizen’s double eagle on the second hole. He still trailed Oosthuizen by two after a bogey at the 12th, but birdied the next four holes to earn his spot in the playoff, with both players posting 10-under 278 totals for 72 holes. Watson closed with a 68, giving him four straight rounds under par (69-71-70-68).
After trailing by two or three shots at the end of each round in 2012, Watson led by three after 36 holes last year thanks a run of five straight birdies on the back nine Friday beginning at the 12th. He increased his lead with an eagle on the second hole, but five bogeys led to a 74 and he fell back into a tie with 20-year-old Jordan Spieth going to the final round.
The two engaged in a riveting duel on the front nine, with something happening on just about every hole. Spieth quickly moved ahead by two when he birdied the second and Watson bogeyed the third after attempting to drive the green.
Spieth holed a bunker shot for birdie on the fourth but Watson matched him with the first of his four birdies in a 6-hole stretch. Spieth’s bogey at the fifth reduced his lead to one, but he hit it stiff for birdie at the sixth, again forcing Watson to make a putt to tie him on the hole.
When Spieth collected his fourth birdie on the opening nine at the seventh, his lead was back to two. But when the two players walked to the 10th tee, Watson’s 2-stroke deficit had been transformed into a 2-shot lead.
Spieth three-putted the eighth for bogey after coming up short with his pitch shot, while Watson got up-and-down for birdie after hitting his second over the green. Spieth also bogeyed the ninth when his approach failed to clear the green’s false front, and Watson birdied after a precise second and a short but ticklish putt.
“Eight and nine were really the turning point where the momentum kind of went my way,” Watson said.
Watson gave Spieth an opening with a bogey on the 10th after an errant approach, but Spieth failed to capitalize on a birdie opportunity at 11 and had to scramble for bogey at 12 when his tee shot came up short and rolled back into Rae’s Creek.
Leading Spieth and Jonas Blixt, like Spieth a Masters rookie, by two with six holes to play, Watson gave fans of “Bubba golf” what they came to see on Augusta National’s two par-5s on the back nine.
Watson launched his tee shot on the 13th over the trees along Rae’s Creek, but missed his line and clipped a branch on the way down, with his ball winding up in perfect position in the fairway.
“Well, I’m not very smart, but I can tell it hit some trees, because I mean, that’s not the line I really wanted to go on,” Watson said. “I’ve hit it there a few times and I’ve hit wedge to that hole. Today I hit sand wedge in there.”
Watson birdied the hole to expand his lead to three shots, and all three contenders parred in from there. Watson considered attempting a heroic shot through the trees in the fairway at 15, but elected to cut his second shot around the trees and wound up making par. He shot 69 on the day for an 8-under 280 total and a 3-stroke margin of victory, shooting in the 60s three times in the tournament.
After his second Masters title, Watson was asked if felt like it validated him as an elite player.
“No. No. Again, I just got lucky enough to have two green jackets. I’m just trying to keep my tour card every year, and if people say that I’m a good player, that’s great. But I’m not trying to play golf for a living. I’m not trying to play golf for everybody to tell me how great I am.
“I play golf because I love it. The game has brought me everything that I’ve ever owned in my life.”