Watch: Bubba Watson again hits spectacular shot in Augusta National’s pine straw

Bubba Golf and Augusta National’s pine straw is a match made in heaven. 

In Round 2 of the Masters, Bubba Watson found himself in the par-4 18th’s pine straw after pulling his tee shot. And like we’ve seen before, it did not phase the 2012 and ’14 Masters champion. Watson whacked his approach shot uphill, through the trees and placed it just a few feet from the hole en route to a closing birdie. 

Full-field scores from the 86th Masters Tournament

Of course, it was reminiscent of Watson’s shot in ’12, which came on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff after Watson’s drive landed in the pine straw right of the 10th fairway, 163 yards from the flag. Watson then famously took out a 52-degree gap wedge and rope-hooked his shot to within 15 feet of the hole. Two putts later, Watson was a folk hero and a first-time major champ. 

Friday’s shot, however, was better than the one 10 years ago, in Watson’s mind.

“Physical shot, yes. Nobody in the world would have tried that shot that I tried. There’s nobody on the planet that would have tried it. We can sit here and they can tell me they would try it. There’s nobody that would have tried it. I don’t believe could have pulled it off,” Watson said, following his second straight 1-over 73.

“It was like a piece of a branch about that big had fell on the ground, and my ball was sitting on top of it, and then leaves were – two leaves behind it I couldn’t move, and then two leaves touching that I couldn’t move, so I had a gap way up in the trees. I was, like, ‘I’m going to hit wedge as hard as I can.'”

Watson had 171 yards to the hole, according to the Masters’ website. He said he hit a pitching wedge and his ball shot perfectly through the gap, going farther than he anticipated. Watson was hoping to make no worse than double bogey – and survive the cut. He made birdie instead and is still in the mix at 2 over par.

“I’ll be honest, not that you want to know, but that was the best shot I’ve ever hit at Augusta National,” he said, “that one right there.”