OpinionRight Field: Bubba Watson no longer an innocent abroad
American has matured from a stereotypically naïve southern American figure to seasoned international traveller
There can't be anything more American than the name Bubba. There is no ambiguity. Bubba is not just from the US, he's most likely from the southern part as well.
Gerald Lester Watson is indeed from the south, Florida to be exact. But while he may be a Bubba, he hardly perpetuates the stereotype, at least in appearance and achievement.
Bubba Watson is a reed-thin, golfing savant who can do things with a club in his hands that the other seven billion people in the world can only dream of. Self-taught, he claims to have never taken a golf lesson, and if it is true the 36-year-old must be one of the greatest teachers there is, because among his nine PGA victories are two of the past three Masters championships.
I didn't know how to pronounce the names in the right way. That's my bad. They say it was disrespectful and I'm sorry for that
Not only is he prodigiously and mystifyingly long off the tee, Watson can shape a shot like few in the history of the game. Television does not do him justice; he has to be seen live to truly appreciate the uniqueness of his game and luckily for golf fans in Asia, Bubba is on his way back over here.
"The golf fans in Asia are very respectful and I look forward to returning," he says over the phone from Florida, where he is playing this week in the Hero World Challenge, an event that benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation.
After the final round, he will hop on a plane to play in a star-studded field in this week's Thailand Golf Championship at Amata Springs Country Club just outside of Bangkok.
Watson lists Woods as one of the inspirations behind him wanting to play more internationally. "Tiger has won a ton in the States but he's also won a ton outside the States," he says. "Jack Nicklaus - you can go through the greats of the game - they've all won outside the US, or outside of Europe, or outside Asia. Wherever they come from they've all won outside of there."