Bubba Golf

In the world of pro golf, Bubba Watson is one in a million. Here, he gives us a unique insight into how he approaches the game...

I have never had a lesson – I learned golf myself. That makes the game exciting because, with me, there is no swing thought. There is no stuff going around in my head, and that means I can hit any shot. I want to be able to hook it, cut it, hit it high and hit it low, so the fun aspect is that there are a lot of different ways to play. I am trying to create – trying to be a kid – and that makes golf exciting.

When my dad got me into the game at the age of six, I just played golf for fun and I just kept getting better. As I developed, I continued to improve, so why would I mess with that by getting lessons? As I kept making strides so my dad kept saying, “Well, you’re getting better, you’re shooting under par now and you’re shooting in the 60s – you’re improving every year, so just keep doing what you’re doing!” Here are some things I do that hopefully you can learn from too...

1 Visualisation 

Before I hit a drive, I start by thinking, “What shot is going to get me in the fairway? What direction is the wind? What is the rough like?” So there is a lot going through my head on what kind of shot I need to hit to get in play. Should I hook it, should I cut it and what club should I use?

The key for me is being able to see the shot, and I don’t see straight – I see curves. I can hit straight shots, but I don’t want to because I feel like it’s easier to curve it. I see curves and that’s probably why I don’t shoot guns – because I can’t see straight!

When I come over here to The Open, there are a lot of blind shots so I find it harder. I can’t visualise things and the way I play golf I have to be able to.

2 Asking questions