Watson making most of his newfound fame Bubba Watson’s tour of New York City continued Wednesday with the following revelations: The only suits he owns were given to him as a member of the Ryder Cup and President Cup teams. His real name is Gerry, but his dad dubbed him “Bubba” as a newborn. The overalls he wore in his infamous “Golf Boys” video cost 99 cents. And because his idol was Payne Stewart, he played in knickers until he turned 12.
After his victory Sunday in the Masters, Watson, 33, has become an instant celebrity, and America can’t seem to get enough. Watson is on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated with the headline “A New Folk Hero.”
He presented David Letterman a pink driver on his show Tuesday night and accepted a putting challenge from CNN talk show host Piers Morgan. He also sat for TV interviews with Fox News, World Sport, MSNBC, CNBC, “Pardon the Interruption” and Charlie Rose. He did radio spots with Dan Patrick, Scott Van Pelt, Tim Brando and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo.
Along the way, Watson has cried at the mention of his wife; his recently adopted infant son, Caleb; his father, who passed away in 2010; and even fellow pro Steve Elkington. The two had a nasty on-course feud in 2008, which the Australian patched up after the Masters with a touching message of congratulations.
America is just getting to know the Watson whom golf fans discovered years ago. In a sport full of polished, country club-bred players, Watson is refreshingly uncouth. On Tuesday, Watson was alerted that President Obama was about to call. When the call came in, Watson blurted, “What’s up, Bud — I mean, Mr. President.”
Morgan made the mistake of asking Watson why he wanted to appear on his show.
“Because you were such a pr— on ‘America’s Got Talent,’?” Watson said grinning. The two got along well after that.
As players prepared for this week’s PGA Tour stop, the Heritage in Hilton Head, S.C., the main topic of conversation was Watson.
“We were joking around here saying, if you had to go pay money to see guys play golf, it would be Tiger, Phil and Bubba,” Heritage defending champion Brandt Snedeker said. “It’s great for golf. It’s great to see him win and close it out the way he did.”
In the last few days, Watson has talked to an eclectic variety of celebrities, including singer Carole King, golf great Greg Norman and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who told Watson he made him “proud to be an American.”
According to PGATour.com, which is following Watson in New York, he also was greeted by best-selling author John Grisham, a guest on “Morning Joe,” who told him, “You made my wife cry, and she doesn’t even like golf.”
But one of the people Watson was most thrilled to meet was actor Sean Hayes, who plays Larry in the upcoming movie “The Three Stooges.” Hayes also was a guest of Letterman on Tuesday.
If these are Watson’s 15 minutes of fame, he is enjoying every one of them. So too are his new legion of fans.
