Bubba Watson returns to action at the Memorial tournament
The reigning Masters Champion Bubba Watson is set to make his second start on the PGA Tour, since he recorded a win at the Augusta National Golf Club, when he tees off at the Memorial tournament in Muirfield Village, scheduled from May 31 to June 3, 2012.
In 2006, when he made his debut at Memorial, he already had a reputation of being a long hitter. Therefore, Jack Nicklaus, the host of the event, asked Watson to join him at the annual junior clinic.
According to Watson, he was really scared to join a legend in a camp, as he was nervous, especially, when he was playing his rookie season on the tour.
"But I had to hit it good, I had to show off for Jack,” Watson recalled Tuesday. “How are you going to impress Jack? I just kept hitting it hard, and I was hoping it would go out so fast that he couldn’t see it, so I could go, yeah, it went a long way”.
Watson amusingly said that Nicklaus had some age factor at that time. Therefore, he was not much focused about the direction of the ball. In fact, he just watched the ball going real fast, which was enough for Watson to show off on that day.
Since then, a lot has changed, as Watson is no more a scared boy. He is now a man with a newly adopted child, and a major victory registered to his name.
While entering the Memorial this year, he only has one thing in his mind and that is to cheer the legend of the game of golf.
"It’s nice to shake a legend like that’s hand," Watson said about Nicklaus, who recorded 18 major victories in his career. "Did a lot for the sport, kept the game going, kept the game interesting, got the game to grow to where it is today and then other
guys have taken it to the next level".
Watson does not have a good track record at Memorial, as his best finish in the event came in 2007 and 2009 when he tied for the 23rd position each time.
However, this year has witnessed him take 18th place or better in each of the nine events he has played so far on the PGA Tour. Therefore, he is expected to improve his record at Muirfield Village too this year.
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