Top 20 Players to Watch in 2019: No. 17 Bubba Watson

Bubba Watson is one of the biggest personalities on the PGA TOUR. After a remarkable three-win comeback season in 2018, what else does the fan favorite have in store for the new year?

Bubba Watson is, almost without debate, one of the most popular and (equally) polarizing players on the PGA TOUR today. He just turned 40 in November, but the way he carries himself, you could easily confuse him for one of the 20-something superstars that seem to be taking over the game of golf.

Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that his game is as strong as ever, either.

The 2017 season was a tough one for Bubba, as he finished just his second winless season since 2010, and even failed to qualify for the BMW Championship. Things got so rough for him that Watson actually considered retiring from golf altogether. Safe to say, he’s pretty glad he didn’t, and so are we.

Watson reestablished himself as one of the best players on the planet over the past year, removing any doubt about his ability to still get the job done between the ropes. A slow start to 2018 saw Watson drop as low as 117th in the Official World Golf Rankings, failing to finish better than T35 in any of his first three starts.

But one thing Bubba Watson does, perhaps better than just about anybody on the PGA TOUR, is constantly coming back for more. Sure, we’ve all seen the blow-ups and borderline tantrums, but we’ve also seen the tears of joy he’s shed after big victories. This is a guy who gives it everything he has, regardless of the outcome. So when he finally put it all back together at the Genesis Open, holding off Tony Finau and Kevin Na by two strokes, it felt like a new beginning for the creative southpaw.

A top-ten finish at the WGC-Mexico Championship (won by another lefty we’ll talk about later on) led to yet another victory, this time at the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship. Watson returned to the top-ten at Augusta for the first time since his 2014 Masters win, finishing tied for fifth behind eventual champion Patrick Reed. And he put an exclamation mark on a strong comeback season with a white-hot 63 in the final round of the Travelers Championship, erasing a six-shot deficit for his third win of the year.

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The great thing about Watson is that he’s never been a typical grinder, satisfied to just make cuts and earn a check each week. He knows that when he’s playing to his full potential, with everything clicking, he’s tough to beat. There are plenty of courses that just don’t set up for his game, sure, but when they do, the fireworks are a sight to behold.

I believe that Watson could have gone either way in his career this past year. Another down year, perhaps missing out on parts of the FedEx Cup Playoffs again, and maybe we’re not talking about him in this column. But it was clear to anybody watching that 2018 rejuvenated Bubba, and might have given him some of that love of the game back.

I don’t know precisely what’s in store for Bubba in 2019, but I’d be surprised if it didn’t at least come with a few thrilling Sunday stretches with his name at the top of the leaderboard. And really, isn’t that what “Bubba Golf” is all about? Heck, I don’t think any of us would be shocked if he spent a little time in Butler Cabin on a Sunday afternoon in April.

Whether he keeps up the winning pace of 2018 or not, all eyes will be on Bubba Watson in 2019. And that will only be a good thing for the game overall.