Your 2012 Masters champion, Bubba Watson, is one of the most colorful characters in golf, if not sports as a whole.
Watson won the green jacket Sunday on the second playoff hole, beating South African Louis Oosthuizen. Watson’s shot out of the woods will go down as one of the best in Masters history, as he turned the ball some 40 yards around the corner to land on the green and set up the win.
The wild swinging lefty is one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour,
and is known for his ability to make the ball do things in flight unlike
anyone else in the game. Breaking the stereotype of golfers as duller
than dirt, here are three things that make Bubba Watson who he is and why he’s worth rooting for.
1. He’s part of a boy band, made up entirely of golfers. Along with other players Hunter Mahan, Ricky Fowler and Ben Crane, the group racked up more than 3.5 million views on their hysterical music video Oh Oh Oh. It’s Bubba in the overalls and abundance of chest hair.
2. His family has always been part of the story. Bubba has famously cried after capturing all four of his PGA Tour victories. His father had a noted battle with cancer, and Watson dedicated his first career win at the Traveler’s to his dad, who died just months later. Bubba’s second career win was as emotional, coming three months after burying his father.
Watson’s wife has also been very visible — literally — throughout her husband’s career. Angie Watson measures in at 6-foot-4 and was a basketball player. The two just adopted a baby boy named Caleb, which is why Angie wasn’t there in person when the winning putt dropped on Sunday.
3. Having grown up in the Florida Panhandle town of Bagdad, is it any doubt the when the chance to buy the General Lee, that Bubba Watson wouldn’t jump at it? Of course not, so he did, and now owns the famous “Dukes of Hazard” car.
“Just got my dream car!!! #cryingnow” was Watson’s tweet back in January.
