Wow, that was something else, again. The Masters always delivers and this one was another one for the ages. Thought Bubba, with his immense distance and his ultra creative shot making, had a shot if his short game was on. It was, particularly when he birdied four holes in a row starting with no.13 and topping it off with an eight footer on 16. Louis, Lou-ah, gave it a great go as well. Played solid golf throughout the tourney and his four iron from 253 yards that went down for double eagle was as good as I’ve ever seen. That was one exciting shot. Louie was all class in defeat. Seems like a great guy and he was happy for Bubba.
Bubba’s gap wedge from 155 yards was the clincher after Louis left it short of the green on his second shot. Bubba just shaped that shot with a 40 yard draw from the woods. He said he loves to draw it. Seemed impossible to execute. When Louis chipped up about 15 feet past the cup and just barely missed his par putt on 10, it was all academic. Bubba had a six inch par putt and he put his hand up to the crowd to calm down them down. He was taking nothing for granted. When he sank the putt  his emotion was fantastic. Bubba, who played two years at Faulkner State in Bay Minette, Al. before transferring and starring at Georgia, broke down. He was thinking about his dad, Gerry, a former Green Beret, who passed away two years ago in October, a couple of months after Bubba finished second in a playoff in the PGA, losing to Martin Kaymer. He was in the late stages of cancer at the time and Bubba really wanted to win the PGA for him before he lost him. This helped ease that pain. It was also for his wife, Angie, who has struggled with some health issues, and his newly adopted baby boy, Caleb. Bubba, after round three, said he couldn’t wait to get home to “his boy,” and spend more time with him.

It was a dream come true for this patriotic country boy from Bagdad, Florida and in another classic Masters. Bubba won his fourth tournament of his career. He won the Travelers Championship in 2010, the Farmers in 2011, the Zurich Classic in 2011 and now the 76th Masters. He has played in four playoffs now and is 3-1 in those sudden deaths with his only loss coming to Kaymer in the PGA. The 33-year old said he never got this far in his dreams. Well now, he’s reached the ultimate in any golfers dreams. He is the Masters champion and a fine representative of the Green Jacket. He looks like a guy who could do this in majors three or four more times. Augusta suits his game with his ability to pound it (longest driver on tour at 313 average), and work the ball right or left. If his short game is on, I expect Bubba to be donning a few more Green Jackets and maybe securing a couple of U.S. Opens or a PGA. Just proud of him. Proud for him.