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Bubba Watson - Can He Carry the Torch?

I like Bubba. He is my favorite pro. I actually have a lot of respect for the guy given the fact that he got his act together. He used to be a jerk and now he looks like he is legitimately having a good time and is a high character guy. If it is just an act, well, then he has me fooled. With that being said, I really don't think he is going to be an up and coming 'dominant' superstar due to his lack of 'complete' game. No doubt he will always be a bomber off the tee but if he doesn't get things figured out from 30 yards and in, no way he can be dominant. But, IMO, he makes a much better 'face of the organization' than the guy that has won a bunch of majors but has some MAJOR character flaws....
 
JB said:
When he is on, he is as good as anybody in the world. The problem he seems to have is when he is not quite on, the misses are significantly worse and more frequent based on his moving the ball as much as he does. Somewhere in there, there is a lesson for amateur golfers, but I have a feeling they dont see it that way...hehe
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I agree. Bubba moves the ball a ton with his whiping swing. He swings out of his socks as well and that could lead to health issues down the road if he is not careful. He is on right now and I see him playing well for awhile. He is not No.1 material maybe, but he is solid and he represents Ping well. Good guy for sure. He has come a long way.
 
His wife seems to be doing a good job at keeping him on an even keel, as well as his caddy. He has all the tools, it's what goes on in his head that will determine the ultimate outcome.
 
TC said:
When he was on the Nationwide Tour he was notorious for not being able to keep his cool when it came to patron chit chat. I actually think he has an OCD problem or something.
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Bubba has ADD. I think he has matured quite a bit and IMO is a great standard bearer for American golf. Incredible imagination and just hits the ball a country mile. Love how emotional he gets. I don't think Bubba could be fake if he tried. Just not in him to be. I think he has quite a few majors in him.
 
I think Bubba's game is to wild to win a major. You can bring up "oh phil is a lefty who liked to wing it and go for it, he did ok", yes but Bubba doesn't have near the short game that phil has. Bubba's game is creative in all the wrong area's, imo.
 
Bubba was close to winning the PGA last year. I think he'll win a major at some point in his career, but I think he's too erratic to dominate.
 
I love bubba(since I'm a lefty I have to) but for me personally I like where he's at now. He's known but isn't followed like tiger/phil which I like.
 
I like Bubba's game for the same reason I like the game of the likes of Tommy Gainey. Their swings are weird, but they get it round with the best of them. For me, that should show us amateurs that you don't need to strive for perfection in your swing to be able to make a score round a course.

That said, I don't think Bubba's game has what it takes to hold up to a prolonged dry spell. His short game confidence looked almost shot down the stretch last night, and I felt like it was only a matter of time before he dunked his tee shot in the water. I think he plays a lot off confidence, which means he's flying at the moment and it's great to watch, but I'm not sure how he will react when he has to endure one of the lean spells which is bound to happen.
 
Well, out of the "Young Guns" he is the only one who is really living up to all the hype. Fowler has turned out to be a dud, camillo is having more success as a model than a golfer, Rory is too busy hyping TW 12 to take his game seriously.

Bubba has game, and is really likable, doesn't take himself too seriously although he may stir some controversy with his comment about golf not meaning anything. PGA could do a lot worse than him for it's new poster boy
 
He seems like a pretty nice guy and hits the ball a ton. He is sort of awkward to watch and doesn't really garner some of the excitement that others can, but I hope the best for him.
 
I like the current Bubba. Whatever he has done in the past, if he's sincere about the change, then it's all forgettable. I hope success doesn't get to his head. I also don't think he'll be America's torch bearer as I don't think that title will belong to one individual for a while. The group of US golfers we have as a group are a good group but not one of them will take the spotlight like Tiger and Phil did. Maybe in a few years one will step up but I highly doubt it.

As far as Bubba contending, he'll be there in contention but I have this feeling that if he has a close lead going into Sunday at a major that he will fold. As much as I love his game he just doesn't have solid mechanics that he can fall back on when he's having that "tough" round. If he's going to win at a major he needs to be one of those come from behind guys that just lights it up on Sunday without a care in a world. I think that's where he's at his best and his element. Because when he's feeling it, he's really feeling it.
 
He is a good player but so is the rest that are out there. It takes more than a couple wins and im not going to jump on the bandwagon. I think he is more of a draw player than a contender IMO. But with these wins he is pulling himself away from the Dailys and Fowlers.
 
Im a fan of his, as he's stated before, there are more important things in life than golf...gotta respect a guy with priorities
 
TC said:
When he was on the Nationwide Tour he was notorious for not being able to keep his cool when it came to patron chit chat. I actually think he has an OCD problem or something.
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Isn't it ADD or ADHD? I thought I read somewhere that he could play a course in under 2 hours and shoot 65 or better.
 
RonInThornton said:
Well, out of the "Young Guns" he is the only one who is really living up to all the hype. Fowler has turned out to be a dud, camillo is having more success as a model than a golfer, Rory is too busy hyping TW 12 to take his game seriously.

Bubba has game, and is really likable, doesn't take himself too seriously although he may stir some controversy with his comment about golf not meaning anything. PGA could do a lot worse than him for it's new poster boy
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He's not really young though, He will be 33 in six months. That's more of a veteran. Fowler is just 22; Camilo is is 29 and is on the extreme edge of the young gun category at this point, if he could even be considered one; Rory is a couple days short of 22.

I like Bubba though and would love to see him take charge. But a hot streak doesn't mean a lot. Let's see what he's doing in three or four years.
 
I like Bubba, but as a dominant force? I'm not sure. Sure he's got 3 wins in the last year and finished second at the PGA, but I just can't say he's on the same level as Tiger and Phil and them. Like it was said before, he's just a bit too erratic. That's why I didn't pick him in Fantasy Golf last week. But that shows what I know. Hehe
 
Smallville said:
He's not really young though, He will be 33 in six months. That's more of a veteran. Fowler is just 22; Camilo is is 29 and is on the extreme edge of the young gun category at this point, if he could even be considered one; Rory is a couple days short of 22.

I like Bubba though and would love to see him take charge. But a hot streak doesn't mean a lot. Let's see what he's doing in three or four years.
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I agree he is more of a veteran, but all the golf magazines and the PGA insist on tagging him with that "Young Gun" hype. The whole Young Gun promotional thing is fairly annoying to me
 
he is entertaining, and does seem to have fun out there, but I have not seen enough to say that he is the next great one.
 
I really wanted to read all of these comments because I'm sure there are a lot of great points. I didn't so I apologize if I missed anything. As a few have pointed out, when he isn't "on" his game really seems to suffer a lot. What's hard for me is I haven't seen much of it but he is a name I look out for whenever I know he is in the field. He hits some extreme (imo) draws and fades which to me would be incredibly tough to control if you weren't on. I would think too, with all the pressure at the major tournaments it's got to really impact his game. But I do think he will win one or two majors. I'd love to see him carry the torch. I like a guy that isn't afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve and I have no reason to believe it's anything but geniune.
 
I see Bubba as falling back closer to the pack in the not too distant future. His swing is idiosyncratic, and that usually leads to inconsistency. He may continue to make a good living on Tour, but I don't see him as climbing to superstar status.
 
Bubba is a slightly less talented Phil Mickelson type player that will be very popular for a long time. He might win a major at some point but it is not something I would bet on. I like Bubba but I don't think he is now or ever could be considered the best player on the PGA tour, he is having a good year that's all. It is a nice run but not historic or lasting. And he is not a young player, I don't know why the national media types keep saying that, he looks and acts youngish but he is not young and does not belong in the same conversation or category with the other young players under age 25.
 
I think I'm more amazed at what Bubba does with the ball and interested in his swing than anything. I don't think he has the consistency to "carry the torch". I really like how he plays and that he stays within himself. I don't really root for the guy though.

He's kind of like a sideshow to me. One of those interesting things you look at to pass the time until the next big thing comes around.
 
I think Bubba will do well from now on. I think if he gets back in to his old ways he will drop back down, but if he keeps the attitude style he has now. He will do better and better. He seems very stress free and having fun. I think that is the way to play the best for him. I love the way he works the ball, but it can get you in trouble if he is not on that day.
 
I hope so - he's the guy I like following the most - by far.
 
Vegan702 said:
Flash in the pan, will have a great year this year and maybe next year, but after that I doubt it.
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Three wins in 19 starts, flash in the pan? Then who is your pick of the younger set?


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