Bubba-proof Augusta?
Last Sunday, Brandt Snedeker joked on Twitter that the club should plant trees to the right of every tee box, about 100 yards away.
“The only problem is,” Sneds tweeted, “they don’t make trees that tall!!!”
Count PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem among the many dazzled by Bubba’s immense power – particularly that 366-yard bomb on 13.
“To think a guy can go out and hit the ball off the tee where he does, keep it in play, and for the last umpteen number of months have the lead on the PGA Tour for the most holes played without a three-putt, that combination is amazing,” he said.
“If a player can hit it that far and keep it in play, control, that’s a God-given talent that you should appreciate. Pretty much everybody on Tour would like to be able to do that.”
Of course his smash-mouth game is impressive, Finchem said, but in the wake of Watson’s emotional Masters victory, the commissioner said that fans also have a new appreciation for Watson the family man.
“Bubba’s intensity of character, his compassion, his emotions for his family, his extended family … that’s the kind of guy he is,” Finchem said. “From a competitive standpoint, you want to see him stay right up there, and he will. But also he adds another dimension to what people think about when they think about PGA Tour players.”