Bubba Watson Looks to Defend His Title at the Travelers Championship

The mammoth success Bubba Watson has experienced over the past 12 months can be traced back to one single event—his sudden-death playoff victory at the 2010 Travelers Championship.

Watson’s win at the 2010 Travelers was his first PGA tour win and it sparked a torrid stretch that included two more wins, a near miss at the PGA Championship and a Ryder Cup appearance...not to mention newfound fame and fortune.

Winning creates confidence and confidence creates more wins, hence the term “winning breeds winning.”

“(Winning) showed me that I can play the game of golf,” Watson said yesterday in Cromwell, CT where he is on hand to defend his title at the 2011 Travelers Championship.

“It showed me that by winning here I can play with the guys; I belonged out here, I guess. It just gave me confidence going forward the rest of my career, no matter how long or how short.”

In Watson’s case, the confidence boost he received from his win at the 2010 Travelers Championship was vitally important, but there’s more to his newfound success than just confidence.

Watson has always been one of the longest hitters in the game, but like many bombers, he continually struggled with accuracy.

That is no longer the case.

Whereas in 2009 and 2010, Watson didn’t finish better than 55th in greens in regulation percentage—this year, he currently ranks first on tour in GIR.

Watson also ranks 98th on tour in driving accuracy, which may not sound overly impressive at first glance, but considering that he averages 311.9 yards off the tee and his previous best driving accuracy percentage over the past five years was 176th, Watson has shown a marked improvement in this area of his game. 

In addition to confidence and accuracy, Watson’s overall personality has drastically changed over the past 12 months.

Watson used to be considered one of the most ornery players on tour.

He was a bear in the media center and volcano of anger always seemed to be brewing under his skin while on the golf course.

But that is also no longer the case, either.

An intervention from his wife, Angie, and caddie, Ted Scott, about his behavior and mood on the golf course and his father’s bout with cancer that unfortunately led to his death late last year gave Watson a better perspective on life and golf’s place in it.

“It gave me something else to think about when my dad had cancer, gave my family something to think about, and realizing that golf is just golf and there's more to life than just playing golf and hitting a white ball everywhere,” Watson said.

So we now have a Bubba Watson who hits the ball long and straight with confidence and has a positive perspective on both golf and life.

It’s no wonder that many consider him one of, if not the best American golfer on tour today. 

And it’s also no wonder many are picking him to defend his title this week in Cromwell, CT.

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