Bubba Watson hits his drive off the course at Memorial, golf ball becomes new dog toy

It was going so well for Bubba Watson, who came to a par-5 with a share of the lead. The par-5s are where Bubba makes his move, bombing away for easy birdie and eagle chances. But, uh, things went a little off on the 15th tee at the Memorial. Bubba’s tee shot decided to leave the Muirfield Village course property, the two-time Masters champ sailing one off to the right and into a neighbor’s back yard.

It looked like Bubba had pulled a provisional before the first drive even landed. A few minutes later, with Bubba in the middle of the fairway after hitting a 4-wood on his provisional, we got a shot of where the ball landed -- and apparently the ball became became a new dog toy. The owners had to pull their dog back from scooping up the ball, but no need for caution, it’s now yours.

There’s lots of good to Bubba golf, but the creativity and shotmaking sometimes take detours for that kind of wildness. PGA Tour’s ShotTracker did not have the technological ability track it anymore.

Bubba would go on to make a double-bogey 7 on the hole, while co-leader Hideki Matsuyama dumped one in the water up ahead. And that’s how Kevin Na, who finished a couple hours ahead of the final groups, might walk off with the win at 13-under.