The ultimate risk-reward player and the ultimate risk-reward golf course came together in a holy union Sunday. And no, we’re not talking Phil Mickelson. At Augusta National, another Lefty with a pedal-to-the-metal style won the green jacket and did it in a way that only Mickelson could fathom.
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From deep in the woods and off pine straw, Bubba Watson hit a corkscrew rescue shot that will live forever in Masters lore. The blind wedge from 155 yards out at No. 10 came to rest 10 feet from the cup and delivered Watson victory on the second playoff hole over Louis Oosthuizen.
“It was a 40-yard hook,” Watson said on CBS from the Butler Cabin. “I’m pretty good at hooking it.”
The shot trumped one by Oosthuizen that was destined for similar fame. His holed 4-iron from 253 yards on No. 2 was the fourth double eagle in tournament history and catapulted him to the lead, which he held until Watson made four straight birdies on the back nine to force the playoff.
Watson always has had the length, touch and gambling spirit demanded by Augusta. The only question was whether he had the necessary restraint.
That’s what dogged Mickelson for years. He won his first PGA Tour event at age 20 but didn’t capture his first major until he was 33. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Watson is 33.
Despite that, their careers haven’t exactly paralleled. Mickelson was a gifted prodigy, polished and PGA Tour ready before he came out of Arizona State. Watson came out of Georgia more a long-driving circus act. He played 184 Nationwide and PGA Tour events before notching his first victory.
The personalities of Mickelson and Watson are widely divergent. One of Watson’s prized possessions is the “General Lee” car from the old television show “Dukes of Hazzard” complete with a confederate flag on the roof.
Can you see Mickelson driving that?
But here’s what they have in common — adrenaline addiction, brilliant touch off pine straw and now the green jacket.
“I attack. I always attack,” Watson said. “I don’t want to go at the center of greens.”
The other Lefty couldn’t have said it better himself.
– Kevin Dunleavy
