Bubba Protests Long Drive Competition at PGA

[newtogolf]

Seems Bubba didn't like the idea of the 10th hole being measured for along drive competition.   He was quoted as saying;

Quote:

"I'm there to play golf, not to hit it far," said the namesake of BubbaGolf. "I've got to practice. I've never been to the course. I don't need to worry about a long drive on the 10th hole."

When he arrived at the 10th hole, he pulled his 3i rather than driver, hit his ball and walked down the fairway.  He was then quoted as saying he hit 3i and not driver to

Quote:

"prove a point" that "There's no reason to make something up in the middle of a practice round like that, it's hokey"

At the press conference he was still annoyed and stated

Quote:

"I don't think we should have a competition like that while we are trying to learn the golf course."

The irony is that his method of protest provided him with no learning effect or practice because he said he would use his driver on that hole (Par 5, 595 yards) during the tournament.

Seems Bubba has ruffled some feathers from Golf Channel who felt is was a "slap in the face to the PGA" and "disrespectful to the event."

So who's backing Bubba?

[jamo]

The irony is that his method of protest provided him with no learning effect or practice because he said he would use his driver on that hole (Par 5, 595 yards) during the tournament.

That's the first thing I thought of. Also: why could he not have just hit two golf balls? They were probably backed up anyway.

[Slowcelica]

He needs to get over himself, I was there today and the long drive was not only for fun it was also for charity. He could have hit 4 shots if he wanted no body cared every group that went through spent about 10 minutes on every green putting and getting a feel for any where the hole location could be.

[saevel25]

I haven no issue with Bubba not wanting to participate in the Long Drive. If he felt it was a distraction, he is with in his rights to not hit driver there.

I do think his comments are tad extreme, and he does need to be a little bit less whinny about it. I can see how, if the media hounds him on his choice not to, that he might get annoyed with it all. I think he needs to grow a thicker skin with the media and just shrug them off.

Basically, make your choice on not being in the long drive event, tell the media, then just refuse to comment further. Its your choice, live with it, and the media wants to hound you, don't give them ammo like that. The way to shut up the media is to just move on and put it behind you.

[Slowcelica]

He could have just played the hole the way he wanted and not been a prick about it. No one would have known the difference.

[Jmdmbike]

Not backing Bubba on this one.   He should have just gone with the flow and had some fun with it rather than be such a whiny little............

[David in FL]

I like Bubba, but what the heck does he care about this one?!

[SavvySwede]

My guess is he didn't want to potentially lose a competition everybody was expecting him to win. Why risk his repputation as the long drive king of the PGA tour if he isn't getting anything out of it? Of course his little protest backfired because this makes him look a lot worse than he would if he didn't win.

[newtogolf]

Bubba is a weird guy, he has such a free, artistic golf swing but he seems to get uptight at the strangest things.

Here's the full article if anyone wants to read it, I forgot to include it in original post.

http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2014/8/5/5971891/bubba-watson-comments-rips-pga-championship-long-drive-contest

[Golfingdad]

I don't really care.  I imagine Bubba is overreacting to something that doesn't sound like a very big deal, but I'm also not going to flame him too much for it either.  As far as I know he's just having a bad day and is cranky.

[mvmac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SavvySwede

My guess is he didn't want to potentially lose a competition everybody was expecting him to win. Why risk his repputation as the long drive king of the PGA tour if he isn't getting anything out of it? Of course his little protest backfired because this makes him look a lot worse than he would if he didn't win.

I was thinking the same thing. Isn't "Bubba Golf" all about having fun?

Quote:

"prove a point" that "There's no reason to make something up in the middle of a practice round like that, it's hokey"

And using a driver where the clubhead and shaft are hot pink and the headcover is a caricature of yourself isn't hokey?

[Gunther]

He is an ass.

[saevel25]

I was thinking the same thing. Isn't "Bubba Golf" all about having fun?

And using a driver where the clubhead and shaft are hot pink and the headcover is a caricature of yourself isn't hokey?

Well since originally the pink driver was because Ping made deal that every time Bubba hit a 300 yard drive they would donate $300 dollars to a Charity of Bubba's choice. So, I guess the Pink driver just stuck.

He is an ass.

So what?

[jackieMoon]

I think it was a dick move but understand at the same time. That's like asking baseball player to have a hardest throw comp during batting practice. And plus hes bubba and Dosent want to be beat and lose the effect of bubba long

[zipazoid]

Oh the horrors. Asking a pro to tee up one ball & letting it rip with a driver during a practice round.

I don't see how they can deal with such oppression.

[mchepp]

This was bad Bubba. The Bubba who made some mistakes at the French Open. I hope he sees it was just for fun.

[flintcreek6412]

I'm not a big bubba fan.  I think he whines too much over missed putts.  His reaction is so predictable.

With that being said though I did see the interview.  He doesn't care what others think(or so he says).   He definitely marches to the beat of his own drum.

IMO he did make a point but I guess enough thin skins were too ruffled to listen.....as least it seemed to make a point in my mind.

I found it curious how he minimized drives and put more emphasis on putting.  As he stated, unless you hit lots of OB drives you will hit way more putts than drives.  At most there are 14 driver shots a round.  Maybe he's tired of everyone focusing on long drives when it's such a small part of the game.   Maybe he wants to be seen as a complete playing and not just a long bomber.   Who knows.

[newtogolf]

This was bad Bubba. The Bubba who made some mistakes at the French Open. I hope he sees it was just for fun.

It seems Bubba has to have some PR transgressions every so often.   He handled it poorly, especially since it was for charity but I can see his perspective as well in that the PGA could have had a separate long drive competition event that pro's signed up for versus putting each pro on the spot at 10 to show off their stuff.   It minimally should have been something all the pro's were aware of or even got to vote on before it was setup.