He shouldn't have been there. Honestly, if you look at the 10th hole at Augusta National, the last place any golfer wants to be—especially during a sudden-death playoff for a Green Jacket—is deep in the woods on the right. But that’s exactly where Bubba Watson found himself.
It was 2012. Easter Sunday. The sun was dipping low, casting long, geometric shadows across the cathedral of golf. Bubba and Louis Oosthuizen were tied. They’d already survived one playoff hole at the 18th. Now, they were on the second extra hole, the par-4 10th.
Bubba took his signature pink driver and smashed a ball that didn't just fade; it sliced violently into the trees.
You could hear the collective groan from the gallery. This was it, right? The dream was over. Louis was in the fairway, albeit with a shaky lie, but Bubba? Bubba was standing on pine straw, buried in a thicket of magnolias and pines. He couldn't even see the green.
The Physics of a Miracle
Most golfers would have chipped out. Just get it back to the grass, pray for a miracle par, or at least force Louis to make a play. But Bubba Watson doesn't have a swing coach. He doesn't play "percentage golf." He plays "Bubba Golf."
When he walked up to the ball, he wasn't looking for a way out. He was looking for the gap.
The gap wasn't a straight line. It was a narrow corridor of fans and trunks that pointed miles to the left of the actual target. To get the ball to the hole, he didn't need a shot. He needed a curveball.
By the Numbers
- Distance to the pin: 164 yards.
- The Club: 52-degree gap wedge.
- The Hook: Roughly 40 yards of horizontal movement.
- The Height: It started about 15 feet off the ground to clear the low branches before rising.
"I hooked it about 40 yards," Bubba said later, sounding almost bored by the impossibility of it. He told his caddie, Ted Scott, that he had a shot. Scott, who knows his boss better than anyone, didn't argue. He knew that if Bubba has a swing, Bubba has a chance.
Why the Bubba Watson Masters Shot Still Defies Logic
If you’ve ever tried to hook a wedge, you know it’s a nightmare. Wedges are designed to go high and straight because of the loft. Trying to move a 52-degree wedge 40 yards sideways is like trying to steer a brick with a toothpick.
He had to "hood" the face—basically closing the clubhead so much it looked like a 7-iron—and then swing as hard as humanly possible from the inside out.
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The sound was a sharp thwack against the pine straw.
The ball screamed out of the woods, heading way left, seemingly into the heart of the crowd. Then, the side-spin took over. The ball began to bend. It didn't just curve; it banked like a fighter jet. It cleared the edge of the fairway bunker, caught the slope of the green, and trickled to within 15 feet of the cup.
Louis Oosthuizen, watching from the fairway, was stunned. He’d hit a double-eagle (an albatross) earlier that day on the second hole—one of the rarest feats in golf—and yet he was watching his lead evaporate because a guy in all white just hit a "U-turn" from the forest.
The Aftermath and the "Third-Best" Claim
Bubba two-putted for par. Louis couldn't save his, and suddenly, the boy from Bagdad, Florida, was having a Green Jacket pulled over his shoulders.
Interestingly, Ted Scott has gone on record saying the Bubba Watson masters shot on the 10th wasn't even the best thing he saw Bubba do that week. Scott points to a shot on the 11th hole during Friday’s round. Bubba was in a "bird's nest" of pine straw, the ball sitting inches off the ground, and he hooked a 9-iron around a pond to save par.
Scott says that shot was harder. Maybe. But the world only remembers the one on Sunday.
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What Most People Get Wrong
A lot of folks think Bubba got lucky with a "kick" off a tree. He didn't. He hit the gap he saw. Another misconception is that the equipment made it easier. While modern balls do spin, doing that with a high-lofted wedge requires a clubhead speed that most amateur golfers—and many pros—simply can't generate while maintaining that kind of control.
Actionable Insights for Your Own Game
You probably shouldn't go out and try to hook a wedge 40 yards in the woods this weekend. You'll likely break a wrist or a window. But there are real lessons here:
- Lie Assessment is Everything: Bubba noticed the pine straw was clean, almost like a fairway lie. If the ball had been buried in a hole, he wouldn't have attempted it. Always check what's behind the ball before you commit to a hero shot.
- Visualizing the Shape: Bubba doesn't think in terms of mechanics; he thinks in shapes. If you're stuck behind a tree, don't look at the trunk. Look at the air around it.
- Commitment to the Swing: The moment you doubt a creative shot, you've already failed. Bubba swung "as hard as possible." Deceleration is the death of the recovery shot.
The shot changed the way we look at Augusta's 10th hole. Now, every time a pro pushes a drive into those right-hand trees, the announcers bring it up. They wonder if we're about to see another "Bubba Moment." Usually, we don't. Because usually, there is only one guy on the planet crazy enough to see a 40-yard hook as the "easy" play.
To truly understand the gravity of this moment, you have to realize that Bubba had just adopted his son, Caleb, two weeks prior. He hadn't slept. He was emotionally drained. And yet, in the highest-pressure situation in golf, he played like a kid in the backyard.
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Next Steps for the Golf Obsessed
- Go to a grass range and try to hit "shaping" shots with your wedges—just small 5-yard draws and fades to feel how clubface angle affects the flight.
- Watch the official Masters film of 2012 to see the ball flight from the reverse angle behind the green; the amount of movement is even more jarring from that perspective.
- The next time you're in the trees, remember: if you have a swing, you have a shot. But maybe just chip out anyway.