Top 40 players in the Official World Golf Rankings
14 – Bubba Watson
The man with the longest drives on the PGA Tour –a staggering average drive of 315 yards– and capable of generating a ball speed of 194 mph, Gerry Bubba Watson was born on 5th November 1978 in Bagdad Florida, a small town with a population of
1490 at the time of Bubba’s start to his career. This made Bubba’s inclusion in professional golf all the more intriguing.
Watson, a left-handed golfer, hit a drive of a stunning 416 yards at the 2010 Sony Open, but his longest drive ever is a mammoth 422 yards on the Nationwide Tour. The player was quite rightly referred to as ‘the longest hitter’ in the game after his stinging
drives in almost every event.
Watson once spoke in an interview about his drives and revealed the secret behind it, “My dad gave me a 9-iron at age 6 and said, 'Hit it as hard as you can,' It's about hitting the ball in the center of the club face and hitting it hard.”
Watson won his first PGA Tour event in 2010 in Cromwell, Connecticut at the Travelers Championship, a win that Watson dedicated to his parents. His father was fighting Cancer at the time and giving into it, he passed away on October 15, 2010.
In his early days, Watson played on the same high school golf team as fellow PGA Tour members Heath Slocum and Boo Weekley. He also played for University of Georgia in 2000 and 2001.
Watson’s professional career started in 2003 when he joined the Nationwide Tour. He played there till 2005. In 2006 he had qualified for the PGA Tour. In 2007, Watson played the US Open and marked a very decent performance, finishing tied for fifth.
Watson won his 2nd PGA Tour event, the Farmers Insurance Open in 2011, by one stroke beating Phil Mickelson. Later that year, he also beat Webb Simpson at the second playoff hole at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, giving him his third career
PGA Tour title.
Watson’s career has not been one without controversy. During the European Tour, he criticized Alston Open de France, complaining about the security and organization at the tournament and said that he will not be playing any further events on the European
Tour.
Watson is also part of an infamous quartet of a Golf boy band called the “Golf Boys”. The band released a video of one of their songs called “Oh Oh Oh” in a bid to raise money for charity. The video left everyone wide eyed, but it was done in good humor
and for a good cause.
Turning to the lefty’s credentials, it is interesting to note that Tiger Woods regards Bubba as a very talented golfer, and while speaking to the media once, called him “the future of the game.” Watson responding to the remark gave a smile, and with a grin
on his face, said “That's sad; a guy named Bubba could be the future.”
Bubba uses a 44 ½ inch drive with 6.5 degrees of loft, generating a clubhead speed of 122 miles per hour. He easily exceeds the ball speed tour average by 30 mph. But the wonder of his game is the combination of the launch angle and the spin rate, which
stands at 1600 to 1800 revolutions per minute, 1000 revolutions lower than the tour average. Bubba Watson epitomizes the titanium era with maximum distance, high launch and low spin.
Tags: