BATTLE CRY: Bubba Watson cried with his mother after winning the Masters last year. Yesterday, he shed more tears just thinking about it. (AP)
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Bubba Watson was bawling his eyes out again yesterday. Tears ran down his cheeks just like they did 12 months ago after he pulled off one of the greatest shots in Masters history to capture his first major championship and the coveted Green Jacket.
For Watson, reliving that moment, that victory and what he did with the jacket brought him to tears during his press conference yesterday at Augusta National. Watson began telling the story about how he wrapped his prized jacket around Caleb, a month-old little boy he and his wife Angie had been approved to adopt just two weeks earlier.
“Out of respect and honor for Augusta National, as one of the greatest clubs we have, as one of the greatest tournaments, out of respect for them, I didn’t do any of my funny antics that I normally would do,” Watson said. “The only thing I did was wrap Caleb up in it.”
Watson had to pause several times just to get through that statement as tears filled his eyes and emotion choked his voice. It was refreshing to see.
Truth is, the jubilation of winning a Masters has been watered down in recent years with so much focus on whether Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson could add to their collection of Green Jackets. Winning a Masters would only add another notch to their legacies. For Watson, it was a career defining moment that has made him a cult hero of sorts.
Yesterday afternoon about 25 patrons stood in the pine straw well to the right of the 10th fairway, pointing to the small opening where Watson pulled off his miracle shot. The left-hander hooked his wedge some 60-degrees around the trees to save par and beat Louis Oosthuizen on a second playoff hole. Tiger Woods called it “an unbelievable shot that will certainly go down as one of the best ones ever.”
Watson won’t argue the point.
“A lot of professional golfers can see it. Doing it is the hard part,” he said.
Yes, he is a bit of a goof ball, who has coined the phrase Bubba Golf, stars in the silly Golf Boys video and is proud he never has taken a golf lesson. He is the anti-Tiger Woods, always looking for a good conversation, a good time and trying to make people laugh. Occasionally, he will play great golf.
“I don’t see I’m a hero, a great of a game,” he said. “But I can compete at a high level at certain moments. I’m not as consistent as some of the guys. I’m not up there every year, but any moment I have a chance to win.”
Woods was asked what winning a fifth Masters this week would mean to him.
“It would be nice,” he said. You would have thought he would have offered something more insightful considering all Woods has been through since his last victory here in 2005. After injuries, scandal, divorce, swing changes and not having a won a major since 2008, winning the 2013 Masters could rank as the most meaningful victory of his career. Instead we got, “it would be nice.”
That’s why Watson was so refreshing. Sure, he cries a lot, but not without reason. He won his first tournament, the 2010 Travelers Championship, after his father, Gerry, had been diagnosed with cancer. He won the 2011 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, three months after his father died. He captured the 2011 Zurich Classic of New Orleans and celebrated with his mother Molly, who wasn’t in attendance for his two previous wins. Last year, it was all about Caleb, and the shot out of the trees at the 10th.
“I’ve been blessed to do what I do for a living,” Watson said. “I enjoy it. Now I’m blessed to have a green jacket.”
That’s worth crying about.
george.willis@nypost.com