Tom Watson On The Horse Race That Was The Masters, Learning From Bubba's Wedge Game And Crying

Tom Watson has gone from the Masters to the Encompass Insurance Pro-Am in Tampa, and had some interesting things to say about last week (thanks to reader Mark for this). Meeting with the press...first he worked as a telecast critic.

The shot he hit on the second playoff hole that he hooked the gap wedge 155 yards, there are very few people who can do that, hook it and hit it that far.  The only two people that I have witnessed be able to hit a wedge like that are Trevino and Andy North.  They can turn a wedge just right around a corner.  I can't do that.  I can't turn it that much.  

I wish they had set that shot up a little bit better before they hit the shot, before he hit the shot.  I wish somebody was down there describing the shot because they didn't know from the tower what the shot really was about.  They didn't know how far it was until afterwards.  Afterwards they said 155 yards.  I wish somebody had set the stage for the shot rather than it being an after‑fact.

When that shot hit the green and Faldo so correctly said, I've never seen a ball screw to the right like that on this green ever.  We've never seen a shot like that.  He had to play that shot and he did and won the tournament with it.  That's what makes ‑‑ that's what makes certain tournaments legendary.  You'll always remember that shot out of the trees on the playoff hole at Augusta.  

A nice horse racing metaphor next...

Another great Masters, though.  Just seems like every year it comes down ‑‑ you've got, you know, Saturday's round, you had 12 guys right there within a few shots.  All of a sudden the race began and you've got the thoroughbreds running out to the front.  The last day, all of a sudden you had a double eagle and it changed ‑‑ ballgame's changed now.  It was just a wonderful tournament to watch.  That's ‑‑ that's why people watch golf, for tournaments like that.  They don't get lucky enough to get tournaments like that very often, but at Augusta it seems they get lucky a lot with tournaments like that.

Well said. Now, this just blows me away coming from one of the great wedge players of all time.

Q.  Is Bubba's style a game changer?  Here you have a guy hits it 350 and bends it like Beckham or Pavin or fill in the blank.  Do we have a game changer to use a trendy term, his style?

TOM WATSON:  Well, the main thing is he puts the club on the ball where he wants to.  I practiced my chipping on Wednesday and he came up and I was practicing.  We were 10 feet from each other, and I notice every chip shot he hit was absolutely dead solid perfect.  I mean dead solid.  In my ear, you can hear it.  You know ‑‑ well, the way I chip it's clunky now.  I look at his form there and I said to myself, my hands aren't quite far enough ahead when I chip, and I started doing that today and practicing the last couple days.  Who would have thunk it, you know?  I'm starting to hit the ball solid again with the chip just by watching Bubba chip, the way he was chipping.  So I got some feedback that helped my game listening to his chip shots.  

And on the emotional moment when Bubba was crying...

He's hitting the ball on the clubface.  You really can't say it's a game changer, but he won a tournament.  The emotions were just, you know, it reminded me of Crenshaw when he won and Harvey Penick died, went to the funeral, came back and then Ben wins the tournament.  Those emotions are ‑‑ any golfer watching it, they can relate.  I mean, I cried when he cried, and it was beautiful, yeah.  A lot of things culminated with that win with him.  He missed his dad, his mom was there hugging him.  Different problems that he's had with ‑‑ you know, his loved ones have had.  It was a beautiful sight.