Jon Rahm’s Champions Dinner on Tuesday will feature a host of Spanish dishes that Bubba Watson isn’t sure he wants, let alone cooked, translated for him. Still, Augusta is relieved that the menu at the clubhouse will be free of at least one unsavory ingredient: “thriller.”
“It’ll be different from last year,” says Watson, shaking his head when asked if the atmosphere will be as strange. “The two parties, LIV and the PGA Tour, were not talking at the time but negotiations are currently ongoing. The PGA Tour was against us, but they’re not anymore. As it should be, the champion and the big names in that hall will be talked about at the night. And The Masters will be all about golf.”
It would be a mistake to believe that the atmosphere around the table in golf’s winners’ temple will be completely free of tribalism. As a matter of fact, there will be a sense of ‘them and us’ in the four-day competition. A few days ago, LIV Golf posted a photo on social media of its 13 representatives lined up for the first major of the season, and Sergio Garcia soon added a caption: “We’re coming for the green jacket”.
Garcia already has one, of course, and Rahm, the £400m takeover from the Saudi-funded circuit, also has the latest. Watson, meanwhile, has two children and will be in a celebratory mood as he marks the 10th anniversary of personal legitimacy.
“You know, after 2012 I kind of felt like a fraud and when I won two years later I was able to say to myself ‘right, you’re not a one-hit wonder, you’ve done it again.’ I’ve never heard anyone call me a fraud or a fraud. This is just a feeling I feel inside myself. But I guess it’s hard to accuse anyone, even yourself, of being a two-hit wonder.”
One achievement will stand above all others when it comes to the unique character, who was christened Gerry Lester at birth but was soon renamed Bubba for what his father called “the real chubby face.” During the 2012 play-off with Louis Oosthuizen, Watson took a shot through the pine straw from the trees in a way that even Seve Ballesteros’ imagination would have been warped.
He had 163 yards in a straight line to the pin – except it wasn’t a straight line. Watson hit a 52-degree lob wedge with a 40-yard banana hook that worked wonders in the air to find the hitting surface before spinning toward the pin. This was the strike of an unreconstructed genius from Baghdad, Florida.
“People ask me if you want to go there and have a look when you get back, but I don’t; They put more trees in there, ‘Bubba proof’. Yes, it was the best shot I ever played under pressure. But just from a golf swing standpoint, I probably played better a few times that round. People can’t understand that.”
Watson is a one-and-done player, and not just because a famous coach like Pete Cowen can still imagine that controlled, wild hook of a player who has never learned a lesson and think ‘you can’t do that’. With modern ball that minimizes spin.
‘My problems were in my mind, not in my body’
Watson’s vision with the bat in his hand knew no bounds, but he was tethered by anxiety as he moved away from the route. It is well explained how his brain tricked him into believing he was being torn apart by cancer. He lost almost three stone and lost faith in the medical profession, which had reassured him on many occasions that the problem was not physical.
“I look back at my problems and I can now understand that it was my mind, not my body. But anyone who has ever experienced something like this knows that the two are indistinguishable.
“2015 was at its worst and I thought it might be the peak of my career; I had taken two majors in the previous three years; but I hadn’t really thought of it that way.
“I just wanted to get better for my family and my children. Everything turned around in 2017, and I feel lucky that through golf, and largely through the Masters, we were able to help open hospitals in Pensacola and Africa. Ten years later, I’m in a much better place. “It was probably the happiest thing I’ve ever been.”
Time has applied the old method of improvement, but Watson is adamant LIV Golf is in the same situation. Watson was once voted the golfer least likely of his Tour peers to defend in a fight, but he always craved to be wanted and loved. He feels this clearly now as captain of the Range Goats.
‘I have one more big race’
Watson is perhaps the only player on the breakaway circuit who sounds completely sincere when he says, “For me it’s team first; I’d rather us win than win.” I wish he could show that love in a good game and repeat that old form. But despite rumors that he will retire and not become team captain, Watson insists he is not done.
“I’m 45 years old, recovering from knee surgery a few years ago, and I still think there’s at least one more big hit. The hunger is still there. But as you may have noticed, there are some great players out there.”
Watson lists several of his LIV companions among his picks for this 88th supplement to The Masters. Frankly, Rahm and reigning USPGA champion Brooks Koepka express sadness and some disgust that 2023 LIV champion Talor Gooch failed to qualify due to the division’s disparities in the world rankings.
But the real favorite might also be his favorite to prevail and complete a daunting foursome for Ted Scott a decade later.
Watson left his longtime assistant in 2021. He went to Dolly Parton and told Scott that if he stayed, Bubba would get in his way and he would go find a new champion. Scott, 52, considered hanging up the apron and switching to coaching. Until Scottie Scheffler called.
At the time, Scheffler had yet to win, but in his 30 months with Scott he won 11 times, which also highlights the 2022 Masters. The undisputed world No. 1 heads into Augusta with 2-1-1 in his last three appearances and offers prohibitive odds as low as 3-1 to repeat Watson’s feat of winning two green jackets in three years.
“Teddy winning twice made the difference for me and I knew it could happen for another player. I don’t want to say he’s rooting for Scottie because he’s a better player than me, but I’m saying Teddy will have a huge impact. I was with Teddy for 15 years and we did well. But she’s already made more money with her new man. Scottie has it all.”
‘I will try some From Rahm’s cooking… maybe’
What he has is a swing that is similar to Watson’s in that his feet are off the ground during the swing. The Scheffler Shuffle will never be as rebellious as the Watson waltz on a tee, but it’s a continuation of a trend.
“Instructors always tell you not to move your feet, but that’s restrictive,” says Watson. “Scottie does her own thing and does it incredibly well. I’ve never hurt my back and I don’t think my knee problem is related to that, so I think it’s a good thing to give your body that ability to recover. Not everyone has to swing the same way. It’s better if they don’t.”
Watson is not a follower of convention. He admits he has to be self-managed at Augusta National — “I have to pretend to be someone I’m not in certain situations, but that’s okay because for me it’s about respect” — but some traits are hard to let go of.
He is unashamedly a “prickly local boy” and unimpressed by culture. Watson’s interest in foreign travel was summed up when he once announced that he had visited “a large tower and a building whose art begins with L” in Paris. His tastes are equally parochial. Sir Nick Faldo described one of Watson’s Champion Dishes as “A Happy Meal”, which Rahm considered and included Idiázabal con trufa negra (Idiázabal cheese, black truffle), Chistorra con patata (spicy Basque chorizo, potatoes) and lentejas estofadas (Mama Rahm). ‘s Classic Lentil Stew).
“Jon tells me off and asks if I’m going to eat it all because he knows I usually take the easy way out and eat early before going to dinner,” Watson says with a chuckle. “Yeah, I told him I’d try. Not all of it. Just a little bit. Maybe.”