The Masters -- Day 4 Recap

Bubba Watson was born in 1978, and I'm pretty sure that I spent most of that summer hitting plastic golf balls around my yard with my dad's old left-handed clubs. If I could have been granted any wish back then, I would have a Green Jacket today. I spent hours and hours hitting plastic golf balls all over the yard -- but I never got to be very good.

So as a Southerner and a left-hander, I am happy that Bubba Watson, a self-taught left-hander from Bagdad, Florida, won the Masters. I have to admit that I did not think this would happen. I don't trust left-handed Southerners -- I always fear that they will lack the discipline and systematic thinking necessary for success at the highest levels of any endeavor. The last time Bubba Watson was in contention for a big title, for example, he lost the 2010 PGA after he hit a poor drive and then tried a recovery shot that even Zeus would have found challenging. It failed, and he lost.

All through the fourth round, therefore, I kept waiting for disaster to befall Watson. But Watson did play for the University of Georgia, and good things tend to happen to players from Georgia at the Masters. First, Louis Oosthuizen made a phenomenal double eagle to take the lead -- and take all of the attention off of Bubba. Second, after Watson (playing without pressure) birdied 13, 14, 15, and 16 to catch Oosthuizen at 10 under, and then hit a terrible drive on 17, Oosthuizen followed with a poor drive of his own. Third, while Watson missed two putts on 18 -- when playing the 72d hole and the first playoff hole -- that would have won the tournament, Oosthuizen also failed to make birdie each time. (And I thought his birdie putt in the playoff was going in.)

And then, after Watson hit a terrible drive on number 10 -- the second playoff hole -- he found the ball lying in just the right place for him to hit a crazy hook (the ball had to curve something like 40 yards in the air) to land it on the green. And it just so happened that this is something he taught himself how to do. And it also turned out that for a kid who played at UGA, making difficult recovery shots at Augusta National is a lot easier than trying to make them at a PGA Championship in Wisconsin.

So Bubba made his miracle shot, and joins Tommy Aaron and Larry Mize as surprise Georgia Masters. And I must say, that when Bubba walked off the green, and a lot of young American golfers (like Rickie Fowler and Ben Crane) were there to greet him, I was happy for them all -- American golfers have taken a lot of criticism (especially from me), and for this tournament, at least, they proved their doubters wrong.

And one final observation. I didn't know, until Sunday, that Bubba had just adopted his first child. If anything can persuade a left-handed Southerner to concentrate on his work, it's the responsibility of fatherhood. We hope that Bubba Watson keeps working.

Final Leaderboard:

1. B. Watson: -10 (69+71+70+68=278) (won on second playoff hole)

2. L. Oosthuizen (RSA): -10 (68+72+69+69=278)

T3. L. Westwood (ENG): -8 (67+73+72+68=280)

T3. M. Kuchar: -8 (71+70+70+69=280)

T3. P. Hanson (SWE): -8 (68+74+65+73=280)

T3. P. Mickelson: -8 (74+68+66+72=280)

7. I. Poulter (ENG): -5 (72+72+70+69=283)

T8. A. Scott (AUS): -4 (75+70+73+66=284)

T8. J. Rose (ENG): -4 (72+72+72+68=284)

T8. P. Harrington (IRE): -4 (71+73+68+72=284)