Bubba Watson, US, Pro Golfer

January 30. Bubba Watson. Bubba is a real-life champion, a PGA champion, a multiple-major champion with victories at the in 2012 and 2014. On this date in 2011, he won the .

Bubba earned a scholarship to the , and he helped lead the Bulldogs to an SEC Championship.

After he gained some fame, he resolved to be a good role model and to encourage boys to stay in school. He and his wife are involved with charities that focus on military, children, and junior golf, and Bubba is an ambassador for the Studer Family Children’s Hospital.

But Bubba’s not a big talker. And he gets that honestly. His dad wasn’t a big talker either. Here’s their story.

Facing the impossible in your own strength? Ask God for the solution.

“My dad taught me everything I know,” Bubba said. “I’ve never had a lesson. My dad, he took me to the golf course when I was 6 years old…. He just told me to take this 9-iron and beat it down the fairway.” The 9-iron had been cut down to Bubba’s size. On the groomed fairway, that was Commented [EM1]: https://www.golfchannel.com/article/ golftalkcentral/bubba-watsons-father-dies the day Bubba fell in love with golf. He practiced in the yard walloping whiffle balls.

Bubba’s father was a Vietnam vet—a man’s man—and a “gigantic influence on his son’s life.” Bubba’s to make his Green-Beret father proud fueled Bubba’s love for the game. It propelled him to the top.

Right after Bubba won his first PGA Tour title, on his way to the trophy presentation, Bubba phoned his dad.

“We were crying on the phone. We didn’t say much,” Bubba said. “All we got out was, ‘I love you.’ We were big babies. But it meant so much.”

Now, years down the road from that first round of golf with Bubba, his dad had an aggressive form of throat cancer, and it was quickly taking his life. Bubba had all the things a man could want, but the thing he wanted most was for his dad to know Jesus the way Bubba did. “[Dad] knew Angie and I were Christ followers … but he wasn’t having it,” said Bubba.

Finding the right words and getting them out of your mouth can sometimes be a challenge between a father and son, especially when emotions are deep.

So, Bubba did what men do. He asked a friend who was better with words, his trusted caddy Teddy Scott, to help him write his dad a letter.

The letter was simple and to the point. Just a few lines to tell Bubba’s father how much he meant to Bubba, how he had made Bubba the man he had become, and how Bubba wanted nothing Commented [EM2]: Technically refers back to Bubba, but repeating “Bubba’s father” sounds awkward, and there is no more than to be with his dad in heaven. It closed with an invitation for his dad to get to know confusion if left as is. who Jesus really is, to get into a relationship with him.

Bubba’s father never mentioned it. Of course, he didn’t. What had Bubba expected?

But during a visit—just weeks before his father lost his battle with cancer—Bubba’s dad jokingly told Bubba that in heaven, he would be a better golfer than Bubba had ever been.

Bubba was shocked. Still a man of bravado, his dad had communicated his decision for Christ in a way that he and his son could understand. And Bubba now swings a pink club in honor of his father, that little boy’s hero, who he can’t wait to see on the other side.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16 ESV).

Facing the impossible in your own strength? Ask God for the solution.

Mell, Randall. “Bubba Watsons Father Dies.” Published October 14, 2010. Golf. https://www.golfchannel.com/ article/golftalkcentral/bubba-watsons-father-dies. Freeze, Trevor. “How Golf Bonded Bubba Watson, His Father.” Published June 15, 2012. BILLY GRAHAM Evangelistic Association. https://billygraham.org/story/how-golf-bonded-bubba-watson-his-father/. Quinn, Morgan. “The net worths of 8 of the richest players in the 2015 Masters.” Published April 8, 2015. BUSINESS INSIDER. https://www.businessinsider.com/these-golfers-in-the-2015-masters-are-worth-a-combined-777- million-2015-4. DiMeglio, Steve. “Bubba Watson has special memories of first PGA Tour win.” Published June 24, 2015. USA TODAY Sports. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2015/06/24/bubba-watson-father-travelers- /29230375/.

Ross, Helen. “Watson driving for show, and dough, to fight cancer.” Published January 24, 2012. PGA TOUR. Commented [EM3]: 2 duplicates https://www.pgatour.com/news/2012/01/24/bubba-farmers-ross.html. “About Bubba.” Accessed September 16, 2020. PGA PRO BUBBA WATSON. http://www.bubbawatsongolf.com/ about/.

Story written by: John Mandeville, https://www.johnmandeville.com/