Bubba Watson Could Change The Golf Landscape At Muirfield Village

May 31, 2014; Dublin, OH, USA; Bubba Watson acknowledges the crowd after finishing the third round of The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

We all thought Bubba Watson was a one-and-done guy after he won the 2012 Masters, but after finishing the media blitz that comes with winning a major, and tidying up his personal life, here he is again.

Bubba will take a one-shot lead to the first tee on Sunday afternoon at Muirfield Village, in the 2014 Memorial Tournament, and could very well leave Dublin, Ohio as the FedEx Cup leader on Sunday afternoon.

Bubba Watson has always been somewhat arrogant, and insists on playing golf his way. He had a dismal 18 months following his first win at Augusta and most of the people around golf though he may well be done, including myself.

But here he is again, less than ten days ahead of the US Open with two wins on his 2014 resume, and trying hard to get number three. That would tie him with FedEx Cup leader, Jimmy Walker for most wins on the season, and with Walker not in the field at Jack’s Place, give Bubba the top spot in the standings.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though!  Bubba has a one-shot lead over Scott Langley, and is two ahead of Hideki Matsuyama, but the current World’s number one, Adam Scott is only three back with 2011 Masters Champ, Charl Schwartzel in the picture at four back.

It’s going to be difficult for someone who has never finished in the top 20 at Muirfield Village, and there has never been a lefty receiving a handshake from Jack Nicklaus at the end of this tournament. So if Bubba can pick up number three this afternoon, he will have to earn it the hard way.

"“It’s all about maturity,” Watson said. “Thinking around the golf course a lot better — it’s my ninth year on TOUR, so better thinking on the golf course is creating better shots. Hitting a lot more greens. Hitting a lot more fairways. Putting a little better this year. When you add all that up, it turns into better scores.”"

When we were discussing the Official World Golf Rankings(OWGR) and the endless possibilities that could happen this summer, we left out Bubba Watson.

It would be a tough task for Bubba to get to number one from his current number five position, but the two-time Masters champ could very well get to the fall with the number one ranking.

With Tiger Woods out with injuries, it’s wide open. Adam Scott put an exclamation on the position with a win last week at Colonial, but Henrik Stenson, current number two, has a two shot lead at The Nordea Masters as this is being written.

With Rory McIlroy starting to make some noise, and more importantly, some big putts, he has to be in the picture for the number one ranking as well.

Only the number four, Matt Kuchar, is not playing well at this time…..Stay Tuned!

The 35 year-old two-time major champ looks to have his head firmly wrapped around his golf game, and I don’t expect him to make too many big mistakes today at Muirfield.

Jack Nicklaus may have named his golf course after a place in Scotland where he played well, but he designed it after the one where he won six Green Jackets.

That’s the reason there are so many people contending this week who already have Green Jackets.

The greens at Muirfield Village will be slightly faster today than yesterday, and you can bet, the pins will be tucked in places that will be next to impossible to get to.

So buckle up and get ready for another great afternoon of golf. There are too many top players too close to the lead, on a golf course set up by an 18-time major champion. This is going to be good!

Source: PGATour.com