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Bubba Watson won the Masters from pine straw: the legacy 10 years later

On3 imageby:Wes Blankenship•04/08/22
On3 image
during the final round of the 2012 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 8, 2012 in Augusta, Georgia.

Bubba Watson faced the unthinkable at the 2012 Masters.

In a sudden-death playoff with Louis Oosthuizen, Watson hit his second shot into the magnolias and azaleas right of the 10th hole’s fairway.

Augusta National names each of its holes after flowers. The site was originally home to “Fruitland Nurseries” – one of the south’s most successful horticultural sites in the South at the time.

The 10th hole that Watson made Masters history on is called Camellia.

You can see them to the back left of the green, if you’re facing it from the tee box.

Bubba Watson coudn’t really see much of anything, though, from his approach shot in the pine straw.

AUGUSTA, GA – APRIL 08: Bubba Watson of the United States plays at a shot from the rough on second sudden death playoff hole on the 10th during the final round of the 2012 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 8, 2012 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Watson’s shot location is now a hallowed spot at Augusta National

If you’re fortunate enough to attend the Masters, and walk down the steep, steep hill of #10, you’ll hear a little buzz grow as you approach the green.

Inevitably, you’ll hear the party tucked deep in the trees.

Patrons will stand where Watson stood. They’ll try to see what he saw. Some take practice swings in the air.

Righties who switch up their stance for Watson’s lefty alignment really flip out.

‘How?’ is the number one word you hear these days above that trodden-down patch of bare pine straw.

That’s the legacy ten years later.

I’ve seen the pine straw. I’ve observed a phenomenon that happens when a moment defines a place. Augusta National is filled with places like that.

But for me, the memory doesn’t exist merely in trampled-upon pine straw.

I watched Bubba Watson’s impossible hook on my laptop screen, at the University of Georgia’s Miller Learning Center

An exam loomed large for me that week.

Knowing my study habits, it was probably the next morning.

I had my notes minimized, and the evening playoff round of Watson and Oosthuizen pulled up larger on my screen.

My headphones were in, but as I looked around at other tables in the student center, I saw I wasn’t alone.

When Watson’s rifle-crack of an iron shot sent his ball hurtling into the Easter Sunday Augusta National air, there was a moment of something even quieter than silence.

Then, it landed.

And the undergrads in that typically-quiet fortress of study on Georgia’s campus cheered for their fellow Bulldog, and Masters champion.

I have to imagine it’s the closest that building ever sounded to an Augusta National roar.

I still don’t remember what I was studying for. But I’ll never forget that evening in my time as a Georgia student.

Now, the Masters is filled with Georgia golf alums

That night, it felt like a moment of unique pride to see a Georgia golfer compete in the Masters, let alone win it.

Even in 2014, Watson’s second Masters win, Bubba was one of just three former Bulldogs in the field.

These days, it’s commonplace to see several Georgia ‘G’s next to competitors at the Masters.

Six of Chris Haack’s former players are in this year’s field.

When asked about that legacy before this year’s tournament, Brian Harman pointed out just how much the prestige of a Georgia golfer changed since he played there in the mid-2000’s

“When I was getting recruited, the negative recruiting against Georgia is that we couldn’t put guys on Tour,” Harman said.

“That was the pitch from the other schools, that you go to Georgia, there’s nobody on Tour now.”

Ten years after Watson’s shot from the pine straw, they can’t use that recruiting pitch now.

See also: Kevin Kisner, Kirby Smart & Augusta National’s back tees: a Memoir

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