Masters win still emotional for Watson

The Masters Tournament has been known to move men to tears, but never before lunch on Tuesday.

Bubba “Blubber” Watson picked up where he left off at Augusta National Golf Club, breaking down in his pretournament news conference Tuesday when he reflected on last year’s reunion with his newly adopted son.

It started last year with a cart ride to the Butler Cabin chauffeured by Augusta National member Claude Nielsen. Watson asked whether the green jacket Nielsen was carrying was Watson’s, and the member confirmed it would be his to take with him for the next year.

“I told him that I was going to go home and wrap Caleb up in it,” Watson said Tuesday before breaking down and repeatedly wiping away tears as Nielsen moderated the interview beside him.

When Watson paused for about 20 seconds to compose himself, Nielsen tried to move the news conference along but Watson stopped him.

“I’ll finish this one ... try to,” he said through sobs. “Out of respect and honor for Augusta National – as one of the greatest clubs we have, as one of the greatest tournaments – out of respect for them, I didn’t do any of my funny antics that I normally would do (with the green jacket). Only thing I did was wrap Caleb up in it.”

Crying in public is nothing new for Watson. His first public display came when he received his PGA Tour card for finishing 21st on the Nationwide Tour money list.

“They interviewed me but I didn’t say anything,” Watson said. “I just held my card and cried because I did the hard work and knew what it meant and no matter what I could say I’d been on the tour for a year.”

When he won his first PGA Tour event, he cried again at Hartford in 2010 while sharing news about his father’s cancer battle.

He cried again after he won his second event at Torrey Pines in 2011 a few months after his father died.

He cried a few months later in New Orleans when he won for the first time with his mother present.

Then he wept on his mother’s shoulder again after sinking the winning par putt on the 10th green in the 2012 Masters playoff.

“Augusta is Augusta. Who doesn’t cry after winning Augusta?” Watson said.

If everything goes the way Watson hopes this week, he’ll be crying a lot more. On Tuesday night, he played host to the Champions Dinner, serving a menu that for some reason he chose to keep secret beforehand. He asked another Watson – Tom – what he could expect from the experience.

“He told me, just listen to stories,” Bubba said. “You know when a man of his ability, his passion for the game of golf, when he’s talking about listening to other people’s stories, you know it’s a special deal, it’s a special night. He said I might have to talk, so I don’t know if I have to talk tonight. But obviously if I talk, I’ll probably cry.”

On Wednesday, Caleb will be wearing caddie overalls to join his dad in the Par-3 Contest.

“I guess we’ll be carrying him, so I guess we’ll be caddying him,” Watson said.

It hasn’t all been tears for Watson since he returned to Augusta National. There have been plenty of laughs, too.

He yukked it up with his manager, Jens Beck, and a childhood friend when they visited the course two weeks ago and posed for pictures at the spot in the trees on 10 where he hit his heroic hook to win the Masters.

On Sunday, he took his wife, Angie, over to show her the spot, since she got to see it only on television last April because she stayed in Florida with Caleb. When they played around the back nine and were walking up the 18th fairway, they saw a group of people standing at his spot on 10.

“Couldn’t see who it was, and I yelled at them and said, ‘No, that’s not the spot, it’s a little over,’” Watson said. “Come to find out it was Billy Casper and his son. Kind of funny.”

“Bubba Land” has become the most popular tourist spot at Augusta for Masters patrons – being the only iconic shot to originate in a place where the public can actually walk. Throngs keep kicking through the pine straw in the trees in search of the exact spot of Bubba’s miracle as though there should be a commemorative plaque marking it.

“Who wouldn’t want to see a plaque that says ‘Bubba’ in the middle of the pine straw?” Watson said. “I would never ask for a plaque. If I do it again this year, then yes, there should be a plaque.”

Doing it again is one of the rarest things at Augusta. Only three golfers have ever repeated as Masters champions – Jack Nicklaus (1965-66), Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Tiger Woods (2001-02). Watson said his primary goal is making the cut.

“I don’t want to have to sit around and give somebody the green jacket,” he said.

With five top-20 finishes in six starts this season, Watson is playing well enough to win.

“Obviously, my stats probably show that I was better last year,” he said. “My mind, my physical, my preparation, is the same. I feel good, feel confident. But obviously, as we know, golf is a tough game, and you know, you can win the week before and then miss the cut the next week. We’ve seen that. We’ve seen it where you miss the cut and then you win.”

Can he win again?

“As a competitor, as a believer in my game, then, yeah, I can see pulling it off,” he said. “It wouldn’t shock me. I would still cry, but it wouldn’t shock me.”

The crying you can count on.