Tiger Woods Gets One Last Crack at Firestone for WGC Final Edition

AUSTIN, Texas – Tiger Woods. Phil Mickelson. Ernie Els. Rory McIlroy. Two already in the World Golf Hall of Fame. Two others who are destined to be there. Add Bubba Watson to that list. On Sunday, thanks to his 7-and-6 rout of Kevin Kisner in the finals of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, he became just the fifth player to win multiple World Golf Championships and multiple majors. That may seem like trivia but it’s hardly trivial. It’s a neat little list — not that Bubba has any interest in that. “You don’t think about lists or anything,â€� he said an hour or so after playing his 109th hole of a long week at Austin Country Club. “You just think about trophies and trying to win.â€� Still, it’s a reflection of his ongoing climb into golf’s highest stratosphere, a journey he could merely dream of back when he was just “Bubba from Bagdad,â€� the kid who would draw cartoons about winning the Masters. When he first started out as a pro golfer, he simply wanted to be good enough to earn a PGA TOUR card. Once that happened, he just wanted to win a tournament. And when that happened, he shifted his goal to winning 10 events — and then raising the possibility of retirement. When he achieved each of those goals, he was overcome with tears of joy. On Sunday, it was another emotional celebration, one that moved him into fourth in the FedExCup standings. His 11th TOUR win – and his second in his last four starts, having won the Genesis Open last month – isn’t a nice round number, but it was accomplished in front of his mother, Molly. Just a few years ago, not too long after Watson won his second Masters title, Molly chastised her son for not smiling enough and appearing too angry in public. There were plenty of smiles to go around Sunday after Watson closed out Kisner with a birdie at the par-5 12th. Molly also gave her son a hug. “You’re really good at this game,â€� she said as Bubba began sobbing. “Without you, I’m not,â€� her son replied. When Bubba relayed that story to the media a short while later, he was smiling – which no doubt would’ve made Molly very happy. “Without her dedication to her son, to her family, who knows what I’d be doing,â€� Watson explained. “I’d probably be working at the candy shop and not owning it. I definitely wouldn’t have trophies.â€� Ah, yes, the candy shop. It’s called Bubba’s Sweet Spot in Pensacola, Florida. It’s one of several non-golf business interests that seemed to be rapidly filling up the Watson portfolio. He has ownership in the city’s Double-A baseball team, the Blue Wahoos. He’s a partner in a car dealership, Sandy and Bubba’s Milton Chevrolet, in Milton, Florida. He’s involved in a 256-unit apartment complex and an office building. He also has a line of clothing that will soon be unveiled. It was not too long ago that Watson wondered if he should spend more energy on those things and take a step away from golf. His health had become an issue. He had lost weight – and lost distance off the tee, his calling card. Demands on his time were increasing, meaning less time for his family. If he couldn’t play golf at a high level, what was the point? Making cuts held no interest for him. “A very low point in my golf career,â€� he acknowledged. His golf future was at a crossroads. He gathered together his family and consulted his golf team. But the truth is, Bubba Watson just wanted to play golf. He wanted to be creative, shape shots, see things – and do things – that no one else on TOUR can do. “I want to let my mind run wild on the golf course,â€� he said, adding, “That was my passion. The other things are my passion, but right now I still feel like I have the ability to play golf.â€� Meanwhile, his good health returned. So did his “Aâ€� game. His win at Riviera was his first TOUR win in two years (and his third at the course). This week, he picked up his first Dell Technologies Match Play win. It’s not a format he particularly enjoys – he’s more of a stroke-play guy — but it’s a big statement in his bid to earn a spot on this year’s Ryder Cup team. He doesn’t mind being a vice-captain, like he was two years ago, but he’d rather go to Paris as a player. “I hope Jim Furyk is watching,â€� he said of the U.S. captain, “because I really want to play in France.â€� This week he will be with his family on vacation, one that was supposed to start Sunday until he had to adjust travel plans because he kept winning matches. Then he’ll be at Augusta National the following week. While he downplays his role as a favorite, given his current form, it’s easy to imagine him winning a third Green Jacket. “I never felt a coat feel so good,â€� he said. “… I don’t know if I can get lucky three times.â€� Defining his success as lucky, however, is getting difficult to believe. Bubba from Bagdad is tapping into his full potential, understanding who he is and properly channeling his inner drive and motivation. He’s left the dark place from last year and is seeing clearly now. Trophies are his thing – and they’re not always limited to the ones he holds aloft after a tournament. Consider the $1.6 million donation he made last September to The Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart back in Pensacola. “Me donating money to the Children’s Hospital, that’s the biggest trophy I’ve ever been a part of,â€� Watson said. “When I’m no longer here, there’s going to be people being helped, kids being helped, families being helped. The Ronald McDonald house that’s attached to the hospital, we’ve been a part of that, seen some amazing stuff happen there. “So when I look back at my career, it’s the stuff outside of golf. This check this week will help me do a lot of good throughout different communities.â€� Bubba from Bagdad is growing up. He wants to win trophies and make the world a better place. At age 39, he’s clear-eyed, motivated and in great form – and in a great state of mind. Those dreams as a kid keep becoming realities. “It’s overwhelming,â€� he said. “I can’t make that into a real story. I should write a book.â€� “It would be a phenomenal book.â€�

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Quick 9: Break time anyone?

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Seamus Power says most people don’t realize that there is an Irish language. Or, Gaeilge, to be more precise. “I sometimes tell people and they think I’m kidding,” he says. “They think it’s just a way of speaking English with a funny Irish accent.” Actually, Gaeilge is the first and official language of Ireland, recognized by the European Union. Irish uses the same alphabet as other European countries and the United States, but the phonetics are very different. It also has its own font. Many of the words bear little resemblance to English or Spanish or other more common languages, Power says. Sentence structure is different from English, too. Instead of “My name is Seamus Power,” he says the Irish way would be “Seamus Power is my name.” So in Gaeilge, he would write: Seamus de paor ainm dom. (The phonetics simply don’t translate well on paper or the Internet, though, so we won’t try here.) English, with that “funny Irish accent” that Power mentioned, is spoken by the majority on the island and is also an official language. But there are several areas called Gaeltacht where Irish speakers predominate. “I don’t think Irish will ever go away,” Power says. “We’re very proud of having our own language.” Power was born in Waterford, Ireland and grew up playing golf against Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry. He started learning Irish, as most kids do, in what would be elementary school over here in the States. The classes continue until students graduate from high school. There are even summer camps where kids can go to improve their Irish. “So everyone’s got some level of it,” Power says. The 30-year-old Power, who came to the United States to play golf at East Tennessee State and now has a home in Charlotte, doesn’t get to speak Irish very much anymore. When he’s home in Ireland, though, he often hears Irish words used in English conversations – for example, someone might say “buachaill maith” instead of using the expression “good boy” or “good man.” “It’s funny because there’s different dialect even throughout Ireland in Irish,” Power says. “You kind of pick up where they come from when they speak Irish.” Power’s first name is the Irish word for James while Liam is a shortened version of William and Sean is John. At the Olympics last year, Power even gave his American caddy John Rathouz an Irish name – Sean Teach Francach (the latter two words translate to house rat). While Power says he was a pretty good student of the Irish language, his best courses were math, chemistry and physics. He also has a keen interest in history and enjoys reading about World War I and World War II, as well as Irish, American and European affairs. “I read more history books than I do novels,” Power says. “When I finish a novel, it’s funny, but I feel like I didn’t really get much out of it where I feel like I’m always learning when I read a history book.” Irish history is particularly rich, dating back to the Stone Age. He doesn’t remember concentrating that much on the subject in high school but his interest has grown in recent years. “There’s so many significant time periods it’s unbelievable,” Power said. “When I came to the U.S. and went to history class, there was like two history classes, one was pre-1865 and one was post, and I was like, this is fantastic. “I remember back in Ireland, we started 10,000 B.C., when we started learning history and we go from there. … I didn’t study it particularly in school. I was okay. I never focused on it. “But in the last few years, I just always enjoyed it, I tried to learn some stuff, see what happened, see what the world could have been and the reason it is where it is now, that sort of stuff.” And the Irish language is a big part of that long history. “Ireland is very proud,” Power said with a smile. “Very stubborn history. So, language is something we would like to have, like to hang on. “We don’t always use it. If someone tried to take it away, everyone would be up in arms about it.”

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