“You Can’t Believe Where He’s Aiming!” … I Followed Bubba Watson For A Round
Fergus Bisset is at The International Series Morocco. He spent a few hours out on the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam course with two-time Masters champ Bubba Watson
After more than two decades working in the game, I’ve been lucky enough to watch my fair share of decent live golf over the years. Charl Schwartzel’s final stretch at Augusta in 2011 springs first to my mind.
Anyone who makes it to the elite level of the game clearly plays superb golf, but there are some who stand out in terms of their ball striking skills or simply their ability to entertain through the way they go about their golfing business.
Bubba Watson falls squarely into that latter category for me. He plays a unique and flamboyant type of golf. He doesn’t see the game in a conventional way like most of the pros on the top circuits. They approach each hole and each shot in a relatively similar fashion. Bubba forges out on his own path.
It was one of the reasons I was pleased to travel to The International Series Morocco where Bubba is one of the star attractions. To see him plying his trade and swinging out of his boots!
I decided to go out and watch him put a full round of golf together. It’s one thing to see him hit the odd curvy bomb from the tee, but to watch him construct a score is something else.
After following Bubba for a round at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam just outside Rabat, this is what I have to report back.
You just can’t believe where he’s aiming!
You can't aim it there Bubba!
On the first – a dog-leg par four that turns sharply to the left, I positioned myself behind the tee as his group started out (he was playing with Wade Ormsby and Branden Grace.)
When Bubba stood up, I thought he was taking the proverbial. His feet were aiming so far right. He looked like he might smash one straight into the starter’s hut!
But he most certainly didn’t. While most of the players I watched before went for a slight turn to the left with their opening drives, Bubba went for a low, 50-yard slice.
It was amazing to watch – It rifled out about 200 yards, low and straight, before changing direction and going almost directly left, round the corner to leave just a wedge to the green. It was as if it was being remote controlled.
He shapes it both ways (see more below) and he exaggerates the movement hugely. I was amazed with how far offline he aims his feet (in both directions.)
He also gets right on his toes. He plays it with his right heel completely off the ground. Every shot... Even his putts!
The main picture above really shows how much he gets his weight onto his toes through the ball – it’s quite amazing and a real lesson to all us flat-footed amateurs!
He Swings It Both Ways
We know that of course. But it’s an amazing skill that he seems to find incredibly easy to do. On the testing par-4 6th, he hit a huge fade from the tee, beautifully over the bunker and onto the left side of the fairway.
He then played a brilliant mid iron into the green with a controlled draw. It ended just eight feet from the cup. Those two shots for me absolutely displayed what extraordinary control he has over the golf ball.
The bad shots go straight
He plays for everything to move and when it does, he ends up where he wants. Unlike most players, it’s his straight ones that get him into trouble. He aims it so far offline to start with that, if it doesn’t shift from that line, it’s headed for trouble.
There can be no player in golf for whom the straight ball is more destructive!
He’s still long
Getting ready to launch one
He told me he was when I spoke to him yesterday. But now I believe him. Well, I believed him anyway but now I have proof. The 5th is a par-5 here of near 600 yards. He boosted a drive and then was disappointed with a fairway wood that just narrowly missed the putting surface, pin high, just 20 feet from the cup.
He got up and down with ease for birdie.
He’s relaxed but clearly still cares
I wouldn’t have said it looked like Bubba was playing in a significant tournament. He looked like he was playing holiday golf, laughing and joking with his playing partners plus friends and family members who have accompanied him this week.
I was thinking – he’s just enjoying himself, maybe golf isn’t top priority these days. But then, you would see the competitive streak in him come out. A couple of times he let out a cry of frustration, even a, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” When he came up short on an approach.
He still wants to score well and to win. No doubt about it.
He Could Go Low… If he putts well…
It just looks to me like he has the ability to birdie every hole he plays. I’m surprised he doesn’t make more. He hits it miles, it looks like he has it on a string with his irons and his short game is super-tidy.
The only thing I think looks a little sketchy is his putting – I can only think that is what holds him back from shooting mid 60s every time he tees it up.
He was four-under for the first round, and it looked like it could have been so much better. I think he could win.
