Bubba Watson Wins Masters On Second Playoff Hole After Miraculous Shot

Can you imagine how Billy Payne’s head would have exploded if newly anointed Masters winner Bubba Watson told the world he opposed Augusta National’s male-only membership policy?

Too bad no one asked Watson for his opinion on the volatile subject during his Sunday night press conference. Because Payne, who steadfastly refuses to discuss such matters, might have sweated through the armpits of his green jacket if Watson’s answer remained the same as it was a year ago.

Despite becoming only the fourth golfer to hit a double eagle in Masters history, Louis Oosthuizen finished second, losing a sudden-death playoff to Bubba Watson.

Oosthuizen started the day in third place at 7-under par, using his double eagle as well as a series of clutch putts along the back nine to force a playoff with Watson.

After he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational two weeks ago, many people, especially CBS executives, were hoping that Tiger Woods would have a strong showing in the 2012 Masters.

Instead, Woods struggled with the course in all four rounds, never finishing below par. Sunday was no different, with the three-time Masters champion shooting a +2, dropping him to +5 for the Tournament.

Golf’s next wave might be very, very good. UCLA’s Patrick Cantlay earning low amateur honors at the 2012 Masters after his fantastic, insane final round is a good bit of evidence for that.

Cantlay began his round with a prosaic front nine: an eagle, two birdies, and two bogeys left him in shape to make a run at even par for the tournament. But then came a bizarre back nine that made roller-coaster rides look sedate.

After exhibiting an ice-cold demeanor on Sunday, Bubba Watson finally let everything out after draining a six-inch putt on No. 10, the second sudden-death playoff hole, to win The Masters. Just moments before, Watson found himself in deep trouble, in the woods and with an incredibly difficult shot into the green. He made it look easy, hooking a shoot out of trouble and onto the green, ending up with two putts to win the tournament.

After just barely missing his birdie putt, Watson gathered himself, stepped up and sunk the tournament-winning putt. And then he let his emotions go, grabbing hold of his caddie in a lengthy embrace as he teared up. It was another great moment to cap the tournament.

Bubba Watson found himself in some serious trouble off the tee at No. 10, slicing his drive way right, over the gallery and into the woods. It was nowhere near the fairway, leaving him little angle into the 10th green. After Louis Oosthuizen, who got a lucky bounce to have a shot at the green with his second, left his approach short of the green, Watson stepped up, forced to hit a huge hook to even find the green.

It was, simply, an amazing shot. Not only did Watson pull off the huge hook, torquing his club as he followed-through -- he left himself a relatively simple putt for birdie. Finding the green was amazing enough, hitting it to where he did was just superb.

Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen couldn’t decide the 2012 The Masters over their 72 holes of regulation. And on the first playoff hole, the 19th the two played together on Sunday, both missed putts by inches that pushed the tournament to its 74th hole of play.

Oosthuizen hit a fine tee shot and a very good approach, but remained away with just shy of 15 feet for birdie. He pushed his putt just right, leaving the door open for crowd favorite Watson, a former University of Georgia golfer.

Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen will head to a playoff at The Masters after a pressure-packed few moments at Augusta National. The two, playing in the same group, went toe-to-toe throughout the day, with Oosthuizen carding a double-eagle on No. 2, then coming back to earth a bit as the round wore on. Watson made his charge late, climbing up the leaderboard to catch Oosthuizen as the two battled it out over the final few holes.

On 18, Watson hit his approach to a manageable distance, then two-putted for par. Oosthuizen had a tough downhill putt for birdie, then a slippery five-footer for par to force a playoff. He made it, and we’ll see the two battle it out in a match-play format as soon as the final group is finished.

And it looks like The Masters will be decided by a playoff. Bubba Watson had a chance to win with a birdie putt after both he and Louis Oosthuizen reached the 18th green tied for the lead at 10-under, but both golfers two-putted, leaving them tied through 18. Although there are still players out on the course, including Matt Kuchar and Phil Mickelson, they’re several strokes off of the lead.

The pairing that was tied two shots clear of the field at 10-under from the 16th hole on was primed for a battle on the 18th for the Masters lead. After both reached the green in regulation, they remained deadlocked.

From Augusta.com, here’s a sample of the prize money:

Additionally, if there are ties -- and there will be ties -- the prize money will be added up and then split between the players. For example, if two players tie for second, the second- and third-place money will be combined, then divided by two.

The 2012 edition of The Masters seemed like a two-man race between Louis Oosthuizen and Bubba Watson as both men walked to No. 17. Then Watson missed left off the tee, and Oosthuizen missed right, and both were in danger of giving strokes back.

After spectacular saves, neither did.

So, there’s a bit of drama at Augusta with two holes left for the pair on top. Bubba Watson’s birdie on the par-3 put him at 10-under, tied with Louis Oosthuizen for the lead and two strokes above their closest competitors.

Watson’s shot off the tee on the par-3 put him about six feet from the hole and, although putting isn’t exactly his forte, he sank the look to put him on top with Oosthuizen. Oosthuizen’s putt was a little bit too far for him to be able to nail it in one shot, but he was able to hit his tap-in to keep himself even with Watson as he goes to the 17th.

Louis Oosthuizen has held the lead at the 2012 Masters since his albatross on the front nine on Sunday. He’s also holding it on the back nine because of some clutch putting.

Oosthuizen headed to No. 15, a par-5, with Matt Kuchar tied with him at 9-under. And he had a chance to add two strokes to his advantage after a superb tee shot. But his approach was mediocre at best, forcing him to deal with a mess and settle for a birdie putt. Oosthuizen sinking that one to move to 10-under on the day felt almost like saving a stroke.

Louis Oosthuizen has company at the top in Augusta, as a phenomenal second shot on 15 by Matt Kuchar came within inches of being the day’s second double eagle. Instead, a tap-in putt allowed Kuchar to cut two strokes off his score and tie himself up with Oosthuizen.

Kuchar looked to be playing himself out of contention when he three-putted on the ninth hole, falling four behind Oosthuizen, but Kuchar nearly repeated Oosthuizen’s feat of an albatross with this shot from the fairway:

Louis Oosthuizen is just four holes away from finishing his time at the 2012 The Masters. And thanks to steady play on the back nine, he’s got a lead heading into those four.

Oosthuizen made up for a bogey on No. 10 with a birdie on No. 13, then knocked down a tough 10-foot par putt on No. 14 to maintain his 9-under score.

Louis Oosthuizen looked like he might relinquish his one-stroke lead after his approach shot on the par-5 13th bounced off the green, but a spectacular chip shot had just a little bit too much pace. He’s two clear of Lee Westwood, Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson, his partner for the day, who left an eagle shot on the 13th well short but birdied the hole.

Oosthuizen found himself on the fringe on 13, when he busted shot a long chip that had just a little tiny bit too much pace on it.

Lee Westwood was one of the longer shots in the lead pack at the 2012 edition of The Masters entering Sunday’s final round, but with just a handful of holes on the back nine to play, Westwood is well within striking distance.

Westwood made birdie on No. 15 -- a beautiful second shot gave him a medium-range eagle putt, but Westwood curled it just around the hole -- to move to 7-under, one shot behind Louis Oosthuizen. Matt Kuchar joined Westwood at 7-under with a birdie on No. 13, and both have momentum that few others have.

Considering how his day has gone so far, perhaps yelling “Happy Gilmore” at Phil is apt. After all, he’s in a dark place right now -- a fan favorite who couldn’t get out of his own way while in contention early in the final round. His meltdown on the par-3 fourth was probably something Happy would’ve done at one point.

Or it’s just an idiot in the crowd yelling things at players on the tee. It’s probably this.

The leaders are through seven at Augusta, and Louis Oosthuizen -- the South African known for his 2012 British Open win and, well, not much else -- has a two-stroke lead on the strength of his albatross on the second hole.

Oosthuizen has finished above tenth in a major twice: ninth in last year’s US Open and his win at the British (his only PGA Tour win), but his -9 has him in the lead as he takes on the eighth hole.

That’ll probably just about do it for Phil Mickelson, whose final round is essentially dead in the water just a few holes into the day. Mickelson never really got comfortable on Sunday as he began his round with a couple of pars before getting to the par-3 fourth. And then everything went right off the rails in spectacular fashion.

Phil’s stubbornness was probably his downfall -- something we’ve seen time and again. After hitting his tee shot into the par-3 way left behind the grandstand and standing gallery, Phil decided to play out of the hazard. Oh, and he did it right-handed.

It’s Sunday at The Masters and nerves are certainly showing in the late afternoon groups at Augusta National Golf Club. Third-round leader Peter Hanson has dropped two shots through the first three holes, leading off with a bogey on the first hole and dropping another at the relatively easy and shorter third hole. But his struggles have certainly been overshadowed by the adventures of his playing partner.

Phil Mickelson was unable to take advantage of Hanson’s early struggles, missing a birdie opportunity at No. 3. Then, at the par-3 4th hole, Mickelson completely missed an attempted fade, with the ball rocketing off the grandstand and into the thick brush left of the green.

With all the talk about 54-hole leader Peter Hanson hearing footsteps from Phil Mickelson, Lefty being on the cusp of donning his fourth green jacket, and, of course, all-Tiger-all-the-Time, there’s a guy in pink and white who could boom his way to the top of the Augusta National leaderboard by Sunday night.

Bubba Watson, who started Masters Sunday just three shots off the pace at 6-under (before Louis Oosthuizen took the lead after firing the first double-eagle ever televised at the Masters), has flown under the radar -- despite his booming tee shots and azalea pink driver. His tennis-like togs, however, have received a great deal of notice from observers wondering what’s up with the all-white outfits. Turns out that sporting the sparkling Travis Mathew Apparel threads at Augusta represented the first leg in Watson’s philanthropic “Grand Slam Drive for Charity.”

One of the most calm and cool players on tour had one of the most exciting and remarkable shots in Masters’ history on Sunday. South African Louis Oosthuizen took the lead at 10-under on the second hole at Augusta National Golf Club with the first ever double-eagle on No. 2. Oosthuizen hit a perfect shot up the center of the green, letting the ball take the left-to-right extreme slope. The ball slid all the way down into the cup for just the fourth double-eagle in Masters’ history, and the first ever since the tournament has been broadcast on television.

Video of the shot after the jump:

Tiger Woods isn’t going to slip on a new green jacket at Augusta National this year, but he’s still always one of the names to look for on the Masters Leaderboard. But while Woods is capable of going low even with nothing at stake, that hasn’t been the case on Sunday. Woods is 1-over through 12 holes, including three bogeys.

The real action begins at 2:40 p.m. when the leaders, Phil Mickelson and Peter Hanson, tee off on their final round.

Oklahoman Bo Van Pelt has been one of the most consistent American golfers in recent years, with a ton of success and earnings on tour. He’s had success at the majors as well, getting in the mix during last year’s furious final round on the second nine at The Masters.

This year, Van Pelt matched the final round record with a 64 at Augusta National Golf Club. The round was highlighted by a blistering 30 on the second nine as he went 6-under over the final six holes. It was the second straight year he had two eagles on the second nine. The first came on the gettable par-5 13th hole, but the second came via the much less conventional hole-in-one. Van Pelt aced the 16th hole for just the 14th hole-in-one in tournament history.