The Bubba Watson blub enters folklore

London: The Bubba blub will soon be up there with the Green Jacket, the par-three competition and the ceremonial drive as a great Masters tradition.

The defending champion walked into the media centre on Tuesday and within seven minutes Rae’s Creek had a new tributary. Watson, as one wag put it, is prone to cry when his eggs are done properly. Yet, to be fair, it was the emotional image of his adopted baby being wrapped in green which set him off.

When asked if he had done “any funny things” since winning his Green Jacket, Watson’s eyes filled up and his voice cracked. The Augusta member hosting the press conference tried to spare him, saying “let’s move on to the next question”, but Watson seized his moment. “No, I’ll answer this one or try to,” Watson said, the bottom lip in full quiver.

“Out of respect and honour for the Augusta National, as one of the greatest clubs we have, I didn’t do any of my funny antics with my Green Jacket. Only thing I did was wrap up Caleb in it.”

And so the legend of Bubba grows. A year on and the tale still amazes. Of course, that is always the way in this cathedral of pines — time romanticises. Yet there was something about Watson’s play-off victory that lent itself to instant folklore.

This week, to gauge the ridiculous difficulty of Watson’s winning shot, the observer need do nothing more than find their way to the spot deep within the trees of the 10th and hear the gasps of the patrons as they try to work out how Watson effected the outrageous hook which broke the heart of Louis Oosthuizen on the first extra hole.

It is not only the spectators who have made the pilgrimage. Padraig Harrington yesterday went to the spot and aped the left-handed swing. And on Sunday, Watson was playing with his wife, Angie, when he spotted two men scrabbling around in the undergrowth from where he unleashed his moment of history.

“It wasn’t there, it was over a little bit,” Watson shouted. Then he realised who it was. Billy Casper, the 1970 champion, was showing his son the scene. “I must be getting old — I couldn’t see who it was,” he said.

Yet 12 months ago Watson had seen something special. Could anyone have bent it like Bubba? “A lot of professionals could have seen the shot,” Watson said. “But doing it was the hard part. In that situation lefties would have had the best chance.

“I’m not technical. I’ve never had a lesson in my life. How did I make it happen in scientific terms? I have no idea, but that’s what I did.

“I just did what I naturally do. My nickname is ‘Freak Show’ because I can hit shots that people don’t hit. You can have the most-educated man in the world, and he can put a hypothesis on it — but it still wouldn’t make sense.”

The spongy service caused by the pine needles also helped. The irony is that it would be almost impossible for Watson to repeat the shot this week, as the area has been compressed by all the gawpers. Not that Watson will try it again — unless he has to. “I want to try to keep my name going throughout history,” he said. “And I don’t want people to see me hit it in the trees again.”

There is the point. Without his erratic nature, Watson would never have had the chance to take on the miracle. “Bubba found himself in the wrong place at the right time,” is how his friend, Rickie Fowler, summed it up. Fowler watched from behind the green as Watson conjured his 90-degree wonder. “I kept saying ‘hook, hook’,” Fowler said. “I knew he was capable of it, but still couldn’t believe it.”

Nobody could. On the 25th anniversary of Sandy Lyle’s incredible seven-iron out of the fairway bunker in 1988 — as he became the first Briton to don green — Watson’s wedge, at the very least, warrants comparison. It entered the parade of great recent Masters shots, which includes Tiger Woods’ chip-in on the 16th in 2005 and Phil Mickelson’s blast from the straw around a tree and over the creek on the 13th in 2010.

There have been calls for plaques to commemorate these acts of genius. “There’s been a lot of heroic shots throughout the history of this championship,” Watson said. “And I think this major is good because we don’t change venues and we have shots on the same course to judge against. And as for plaques — plaques are great. But obviously if we are going to do plaques, let’s do mine first.”

The 2012 Masters ended with Watson’s wonder, but apart from Oosthuizen’s albatross, when he holed his second on the second from 253 yards, few remember what came before — Watson birdied four holes in a row from the 13th. They are fresh in his memory and are perhaps why he is not ruling out becoming the fourth player (after Jack Nicklaus, Woods and Sir Nick Faldo) to retain his title. “If I pulled it off it wouldn’t shock me,” Watson said. “I would still cry, but no, it wouldn’t shock me.”

— The Telegraph Group Ltd, London 2013