A two-time winner of The Masters, Bubba Watson is one of the most eccentric and successful players ever to have played the game. Find out more regarding his life and career via these facts.
BUBBA WATSON FACTS
1. His real name is Gerry Lester Watson Junior, named after his father. The nickname Bubba came from his dad after he believed his son looked like NFL football player Bubba Smith.
2. Watson was born in Bagdad, Florida on November 5, 1978.
3. His mother is called Molly Marie Watson and he has a sister named Melinda Watson Conner.
4. Growing up, he played on Milton High School's golf team alongside fellow Tour pros Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum.
5. He is a left-handed self-taught golfer who learned to play the game by hitting Wiffle balls around his house.
6. Watson began college life at Faulkner State Community College before transferring to the University of Georgia after becoming a junior college All-American. In his junior year with the Bulldogs, Watson helped them win the 2000 SEC title.
7. While at the University of Georgia, he studied Consumer Economics. He left before graduation, though and returned to school to complete his degree without telling family or friends.
8. He turned professional in 2002 and began life on the Nationwide Tour (now Korn Ferry Tour) before making the jump up to the PGA Tour in 2005.
9. Watson has over 1.8 million followers on Twitter and almost 1 million on Instagram.
10. He was part of the boy band 'Golf Boys' alongside Rickie Fowler, Ben Crane and Hunter Mahan. One of their most famous songs was 'Oh Oh Oh' which can be found on YouTube.
11. Watson bought the car known as the General Lee for $110,000. The car was used in the show the Dukes of Hazzard and he has since painted over the controversial Confederate flag on its roof because of its racist connotations.
12. He has 15 professional wins, the first of which arrived at the 2004 Michelob Ultra Orange Park Open on the NGA Hooters Tour.
13. Despite making four appearances in the Ryder Cup, Watson is yet to win it. He has been on the losing side at Celtic Manor in 2010, Medinah in 2012, Gleneagles in 2014 and Le Golf National in 2018. He did win two Presidents Cups, however, and has a 100% record.
14. Watson won his two Masters victories in 2012 and 2014.
15. He has top-five results in two of the other three Majors (PGA Championship - 2nd in 2010, US Open - T5th in 2007) and a best finish of T23rd at the Open Championship (2012).
16. Watson's wife, Angie Watson (formerly Angie Ball) had a brief stint playing basketball in the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association). She is six foot four.
17. Unable to have a child via natural means, the Watsons have adopted two children. Their first is called Caleb, who they brought home in March 2012, and the other is a girl named Dakota who arrived in December 2014.
18. Watson reached No.2 in the world in 2015, the joint-highest ranking for a left-hander alongside Phil Mickelson.
19. He owns a sweet shop called Bubba's Sweet Spot. He usually gets the name of the shop engraved on his wedges.
20. Watson has a YouTube video of a prototype Golf Cart Hovercraft, the BW1, which has earned more than nine million views.
21. After moving to Pensacola, Florida, Watson has become involved in the community, opening an ice cream store, becoming co-owner of a local car dealership and purchasing a part ownership in the Pensacola Blue Wahoos Minor League Baseball team.
22. Watson says he has made five aces in his career.
23. In July 2022, Watson announced he had joined the LIV Golf League as a non-playing captain of the RangeGoats. He later resigned from the PGA Tour in August 2022.
24. Watson finished 36th in his first season - 2023 - before ending the 2024 campaign in the relegation places (51st).
25. Watson is well-known for his hot-pink PING driver shaft and - by extension - his RangeGoats' pink team colors. Watson made the decision to go with pink earlier in his career, supported by PING, in order to raise money for and awareness of different charities.
