Bubba's powerful drive might him win the AT&T National
After battling back from a six shot deficit to win his first PGA Tour tournament at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut on June 27, Bubba Watson will be heading to Pennsylvania this week against defending champion Tiger Woods.
Winning the Travelers Championship in a three-way playoff, Watson made headlines with the explosive display of emotions he showed after winning.
“I'm a very emotional guy,” he told the Associated Press. “I cry all the time. When I go to church on Sunday, I cry at church. I couldn't get the 'Yes' out of 'I do' at my wedding. The pastor said, ‘You got to say it. You can't just nod. You can't nod.’”
Watson’s comeback, the biggest since the 2007 British Open, endeared him to fans and saw him move up 30 spots in the FedEx Cup—a championship trophy awarded at the end of the year where players are assigned points based on their performance. Now in eighth place in the standings, Watson also pocketed $1.08 million.
With a $6.2 million purse on the line, Watson will be an unknown commodity at the AT&T National tournament in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania over the July 4th weekend. That should be a comfortable position for the 31 year-old player, who had finished second in five PGA tournaments.
A player who has battled ADD his entire life, Watson grew up in the small town of Bagdad in the Florida panhandle and was a relative unknown before he won in Connecticut.
A self-taught player, Watson learned golf by picking up a club and swinging at balls in his parent’s driveway.
During an interview, Watson told the PGA: “The house is sitting here, and I drew in the dirt driveway. I'd draw a big circle and that would be my hole, a 5-foot circle. I'd go around it to the left and then I'd go around it to the right. So I learned to cut it. If you know about wiffle balls or plastic balls, it's hard to cut. Then I learned to hook it the other way, hit it high over limbs, hit it low under limbs. I'd say non-stop every day from 6 to 12 years old. Instead of playing with trucks out in the yard, I'd play with a ball and a club.”
Many credit this start with where Watson is today: a hard driving and sometimes wobbly player who seems to enjoy deeper aspects of the game.
With a powerful drive and dreadful accuracy, Watson will face a tough test at the Aronimink Golf Club this week, but one that should also play into his strengths. The course is known for long drives and technical swings. The 9th hole at the course is 605 yards long and many of the courses other fairways are also long, allowing Watson the room to use his power and his widely talked about distance control.
Built in 1928 by Donald J. Ross, one of the most influential golf course designers in history, the course is a testament to another age, one where irons and greens were mixed together to create exciting and technical golf. Watson won at the Travelers Championship due to both these factors: long drives that nearly ended in birdies.
Since the Aronimink course has not been on the PGA circuit since 2003, Watson will be facing greens also unknown by the likes of Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods or Vijay Singh. All of this conspires to make the tournament interesting and one prone to upsets. Watson was a surprise winner in Connecticut, there could very well be another surprise winner in Pennsylvania.
Tags: