I don’t hide the fact that Bubba Watson is hardly my favourite player to watch on Tour. Nevertheless, I am curious as to what precipitated his rapid decline.
Simply put, Watson is a polarising figure in the world of golf. Some love him for the variety of shots at his disposal while others love to hate him and are enjoying seeing the two-time Masters champion struggle for much of the last 18 months.
Since winning the Northern Trust Open at Riviera in February last year, Watson has tumbled down the world rankings from 10th at the end of 2016 to 54th at the time of writing.
But why?
Many argue that a change in ball is to blame. At the beginning of the year, Watson announced that he’d be putting a new ball in play in 2017, changing from a Titleist ProV1x to a Volvik S4, the same ball used during the World Long Drive Championship.
I was curious about the appeal an established player such as Watson saw in the move from the ‘No 1 ball in golf’ to a ball that, if picked up by your average weekend hacker, would be regarded as a water ball for the fact that most people probably wouldn’t have heard the brand before.
The answer? Watson could finally play a pink golf ball to match his driver, arguably one of the more eye-catching colour combos in golf today.
Perhaps one may think I am being unfair but the numbers show that the negative effect the ball has had on his game cannot be ignored.
Watson has lost 2.5 yards in driving distance from the previous season to this one, good for a drop in the category from fourth to 12th. What is more alarming, however, is the nose-dive his Greens in Regulation percentage has taken since the switch. In 2016, he hit 69.16 greens in regulation, ranking 18th in the category. Through the regular season conclusion, this number has plummeted to 62.12% which translates to a category-ranking of 180th on Tour.
The issue for Watson, too, is that his ball-striking struggles mean that a great deal of pressure is being placed on his short-game. Pressure that is proving tough to withstand. His scrambling percentage of 54.93% has him ranked in a lowly T-175 in the category.
So too his putting. Watson has just not got it done on the greens this year. On average, he is losing 0.169 strokes on the field which equates to 0.680 shots lost on the field each week. While this may seem a tiny number, golf is a game of fractions.
Put together, the decline in Watson’s statistics this season all contribute to the worst PGA Tour season of his career, ranking 113 on the FedexCup heading into the playoffs.
Volvik must be paying their man a substantial amount to endorse what can best be described as a ‘Putt Putt’ ball. In my opinion, Watson should opt out of the contract asap and go back to playing Titleist, the brand used to win all nine of his PGA Tour titles and reach No 2 in the Official World Rankings.
Whether the change in ball is a guaranteed fix, I cannot say. That said, I believe reverting back to the Titleist ProV1x can only benefit his game.
Until he makes that decision though, I will watch his decline with glee, remembering all too well his playoff win over Louis Oosthuizen at the 2012 Masters.
Photo: Golf Digest
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