Bubba Watson: What We Learned with His Victory at the Zurich Classic

Bubba Watson has all the insurance a guy could want. He won the Travelers Championship, The Farmers Insurance Open and now The Zurich Classic, two of them in playoffs.

Watson may be self-taught, but he is also self-motivated and not self-centered. On Sunday, he claimed the reason for his recent successes was that he realized golf was not the most important thing in life.

"Somebody said it to me–if I won today, it would be like three wins in 10 months or something," he added. "I'm still trying to get over the first win."

He played in New Orleans because his mother asked him to. It is the closest tournament to his hometown in the Florida Panhandle and she wanted to watch her son play golf in person. She was not present for his other victories. And Watson's father, a former Green Beret, died last fall from lung cancer.

The third victory for this interesting young star was not easy. Watson entered the final round tied with Webb Simpson. His par-eagle-birdie-birdie opening salvo demonstrated his good form. But Webb Simpson also started well, with birdie-eagle-par-par-birdie. It became a round of plot twists and turns, of launched shots and of crispy greens.

Just when he seemed to play steadily, a double bogey came to visit him on the par-three ninth hole. Watson hit a fade that landed in the water right of the green. After the conclusion of the round, he insisted the double did not affect him.

"Just like my caddie was saying, as soon as it went in the water, he said we're good, we're good. I said you don't have to worry about me. You don't have to worry about me, I'm in it."

Watson's double bogey dropped him back to minus-14.  After 10 holes, Simpson was five under for the day at minus-7.  Then Watson got help from Simpson, a birdie and the rules.

Simpson's second shot on the 12th landed in a green-side bunker, eventually leading to a bogey. He dropped to minus-16. Watson birdied the 13th to get to minus-15.

Then, at the 15th, as Simpson was taking his putting stance for a tap in, he grounded his club, and the ball moved. His club, from the only video shot available, did not touch the ball.  He had grounded it perhaps four inches behind his ball.

A rules official was called in another example of a player calling a penalty on himself, opening the door for the umpteenth rules-affecting-the-winner saga. 

After the penalty, Watson and Simpson were tied at minus-15, which was how they finished regulation. Simpson and Watson headed to a playoff, with the order of the holes being 18-18-17-18.

Unfortunately for Watson, the 18th hole featured a tee shot he hates.

"There are five tee shots, I said earlier in the week, that they really get to me, and that's one of them," Watson said. "It was just nerve-racking. I knew in my mind 'Do not pull it. We've got to make sure we slice it and hit it to the left.' So I did that both times. The last time I said I don't want to go to the par-3 17, so I'm just going to try to man up and hit one dead straight, and it went dead straight and went in the bunker."

It looked like the golf gods were favoring Webb Simpson. He was in the center of the fairway with the advantage, it seemed. But guys who play like Bubba Watson are used to finding their golf balls in unusual places, including long and skinny bunkers.

"I've hit that bunker shot before over the years that we've played here," he explained. "I knew I could get to the green if I had a decent lie."

It added drama, but for Watson, it was a 7-iron from 201 yards, with a helping wind, hit to the center of the green. He two-putted for the victory and gave some credit to caddie Paul Tesori, who used to carry Vijay Singh's bag.

"The way my caddie words it to me is you've won already this year, so just play hard," Watson said. "You tell yourself we've hit all these shots. We've hit all these shots before. Some of them don't have water. Some of them are out in the middle of the driving range, so you've hit all those shots before. You've made all these putts before when you're practicing. So just go out there and do like you're practicing."

It was great advice. He just had to play enough mind games to follow it.

Simpson's penalty stroke at the 15th affected Watson and he knew he had to shake it off.

"It was heartbreaking. A guy that I–it would be nice if I didn't win, he would have been a nice guy to have win," Watson said about his competitor. "If it had been the last hole, it probably would have been more heartbreaking. But since it was 15, we both had to go on. Now we're tied, so just go on."

This is Watson's second playoff victory. His first was at the Travelers' last summer, where he overcame a six-stroke deficit in the final round to tie Scott Verplank and Corey Pavin. Watson won on the second playoff hole.

"For me to get one was unbelievable. My career was complete. I've done it. Then for me to get another one just adds to my career. It's something I've dreamed about doing," Watson said. "Each time I win, it gives me a better opportunity to help the charities that I'm involved in and the charities I want to help, like my two junior tournaments. So it's an honor and blessing for me to somehow keep winning."

Next time he makes out his PGA Tour schedule, he knows who to consult: "I want to ask mom where else I should play."