Bubba Watson and Lydia Ko Set Golf Fashion Trend
Feb 20, 2015; Pacific Palisades, CA, USA; Bubba Watson tees off on the 18th during the second round of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
What do Bubba Watson and Lydia Ko have in common? Aside from the fact that they’re both outstanding professional golfers and use drivers with pink shafts, you wouldn’t think their virtual paths would cross because they’re really about as different as night and day, or day and night, depending on your point-of-view.
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Bubba’s 6’3″ and Lydia’s 5’5″. Bubba’s currently ranked 2nd by the Official World Golf Ranking system and Lydia’s holding the top spot in the Rolex Rankings. Bubba drives the ball an average of 303 yards and hits the fairways about 61% of the time. Lydia’s drives average 255 yards, well short of Bubba’s, but she’s a whole lot more accurate, hitting the fairways about 84% of the time. Bubba gets to the green in regulation about 64% of the time and Ko gets there about 83% of the time. Bubba’s per round scoring average is 69.46 and Ko’s hovers right around 69 as well. Perhaps the two have more in common on the course than one might initially imagine. Wouldn’t you like to see them play a round together?
However, it’s their off-the-course fashion statement that intrigues me and has the potential to set off a run to tattoo parlors around the world! Bubba Watson and Lydia Ko have tats! Oh my.
Bubba’s tat, as Tweeted by @JasinSobelGC
Golf Digest reported that chatter about Bubba’s tat started on Twitter last fall and in the way these matters are investigated and narrowed down by intrepid and tenacious fans and commentators, it was eventually concluded that the smudge on Bubba’s finger was indeed a tat and that it had appeared in mid-to-late August, some time between the end of the PGA and The Barclays. Jason Sorbel eventually got the full story when he interviewed Bubba at the Hero World Challenge and Tweeted to the world that Bubba paid $60 to an artist “who had no idea who I am” to have wife Angie’s name inscribed on his left hand ring finger in celebration of his 10th wedding anniversary.
Golf Digest also reported on Lydia Ko’s tat although I saw something on her inner wrist when she played (and won) the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open last week that I thought could have been a wristband, or a dirt smudge, or a tattoo. But since I didn’t mention it, I sadly can’t take any credit for breaking the story.
Ko recently confessed during a news conference that she secretly got the tattoo, the date of her first professional victory at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic — April 27, 2014 — in Roman numerals. Why?
"My parents were there, and I felt like it was a very memorable win so I got that tatted up — Lydia Ko"
Why not? Or perhaps a more appropriate question to put to the 17-year old is: How many more dates do you think you’ll inscribe on your arms?