Grain of Saul: Bubba Watson brings golf back to life

It was a classic Sunday sporting afternoon, filled with excitement, overtimes and championship… It was a classic Sunday sporting afternoon, filled with excitement, overtimes and championship swagger — and it had nothing to do with football. It did, however, have everything to do with golf.

Growing up as the youngest of three brothers, the idea of participating in a non-contact sport that involved no sprinting, diving, dunking, sliding or defense was considered wimpy. Certainly, it was called things much worse than that. Watching it? Never.

But as I grew and matured, I began to exercise patience and appreciation for the finer details of sports as the spectrum of my fandom broadened. I started watching tennis, reveling in the quick feet and powerful serves of Andre Agassi and Roger Federer. Still, though, I’d dread those moments when my dad took over the remote for Sunday golf.

Then, Tiger Woods happened. Suddenly a charismatic, athletic-looking star who wasn’t afraid to fist pump and scream on the green caught my attention. Yet just when I fell for Tiger’s swagger and the excitement of Sunday afternoon golf, Tiger disappeared.

Now, even with him gone, the holiest of golf’s days — Sunday at the Masters — has still proven to be a place where mental toughness and consistency prevail. This Sunday, the United States’ Bubba Watson took home his first green jacket and brought America to its feet with one of the most exciting performances in Masters history. As he did it, he also brought my appreciation for golf to a climax.

You see, Bubba Watson didn’t just ease his way off the tee and take a few easy approaches to lead into a nice putt to win the green jacket.

Instead, he first shook off the lefty Phil Mickelson on hole 17, leaving himself as the last man standing with Louis Oosthuizen at 10 under. Oosthuizen was the same guy who hit the first ever double-eagle in the 76-year history of the Masters. His shot came from 253 yards out, before rolling 90 feet backwards into the hole for a 2.

Then, 16 holes later, it was Watson and Oosthuizen locked neck and neck in an overtime playoff for golf’s rarest prize.

Watson teed off first and sent his ball sailing off into the woods. He couldn’t even see it. When the dust settled and his ball was found, Watson was sitting on a bed of pine needles, surrounded by trees, some 135 yards away from the hole.

Oosthuizen then teed off, his shot almost as poor as Watson’s. He was short, on the opposite side of the green, far enough away that he actually couldn’t see where Watson was shooting from.

And then the shot came.

“I had no idea where he was,” Oosthuizen said to ESPN. “Where I stood from, when the ball came out, it looked like a curveball. Unbelievable shot. That shot he hit definitely won him the tournament.”

Watson’s shot was just as impressive as it seemed to Oosthuizen. It crept under 18-foot high trees, turned 40 yards, traveled another 100 yards in the air, then landed and rolled to a position about 15 feet from the hole. Watson’s reaction?

“Hooked it about 40 yards, hit about 15 feet off the ground until it got under the tree and then started rising,” Watson said. “Pretty easy.”

That “pretty easy” shot was one nobody will soon forget in the golf world. In fact, his unorthodox style of play (birthed by the fact that he has never had a swing coach) that makes those shots seem so natural has now been deemed “Bubba golf.”

But Watson’s green jacket might not even be the best part of his month. The 33-year-old from Bagdad, Fla., adopted a son with his wife Angie ­just three weeks ago after four years of trying to find the right fit.

After his unbelievable and unlikely shot landed him 15 feet from the hole, Watson had two putts to finish the job and win his first major. He played the first one safe, landing it just close enough for the tap in.

As he lined up the tournament-winning shot, Watson could hardly compose himself. It was a gimme. Everyone knew he would just tap it in, and when he did — the tears started running. His emotional, tear-filled finish got plenty of press, but nobody could blame him.

After years of being considered a golf savant who didn’t care enough or want it badly enough, Watson finally reached his ultimate dream. And he did it less than a month after finally starting the family he always wanted. For that, tears are always warranted.