Gerry 'Bubba' Watson Jr. Wins Masters, But Doesn't Fit Star Mold

Win is Watson's first major championship victory.

ByABC News
April 9, 2012, 12:19 PM

April 9, 2012 — -- There was an earthquake in Georgia this weekend and ground zero was the Augusta National Golf Club. A shaggy-haired left-hander named "Bubba" walked away with one of the most coveted prizes in the sport.

Gerry "Bubba" Watson, Jr. never had a formal golf lesson. He didn't refine his swing with a swing coach. And on the second playoff hole at the Masters Tournament Sunday afternoon, he was so deep in the woods he couldn't see the green. But this natural-born golfer managed a hook shot that sent the ball shooting from its bed of pine needles, arching 40 yards through the trees to the green and landing just 10 yards from the hole.

South African Louis Oosthuizen, the other golfer in the two-man playoff, said he didn't even know where Watson was when he watched the ball emerge from the woods and curve toward the green. "He hit an unbelievable shot," Oosthuizen said.

It was a turning point for the Masters Tournament and also for Watson who, at least in terms of style, might have been voted Least-Likely-to-Wear-the-Green-Jacket. It is not just on the course that Bubba Watson breaks the mold.

In golf, "you pretty much color inside the lines," says Christine Brennan, sports columnist for USA Today and a sports consultant for ABC News. "Bubba colors outside the lines." In his spare time, Watson and three other PGA members play in a hilarious send up of boy bands called the Golf Boys.

Before he put on the Masters green jacket, Watson's most prized possession may have been the 1969 Dodge Charger which flew through the air in the opening credits of the 80's TV hit "Dukes of Hazzard." Watson, a fan of the show, bought the car at auction in January for a reported $110,000.

And in a sport whose last superstar famously flamed out amidst accusations of serial infidelity, Watson is a devoted Christian and family man. He and his wife Angie, a 6'4" former WNBA player, just adopted a baby boy named Caleb.

After being hailed at Augusta, Watson was headed for home and diapers. "I don't want to change a diaper," he joked. "Hopefully this will give me a week or two to just watch her again. Maybe not, though."

Watson lost his father to cancer in 2010 and after his come-from-behind win on Sunday, he and his mother cried in each other's arms. Watson plays with a pink driver as a reminder of his father's cancer, and as a reminder of the important things in life.

"That's the thing," he told reporters at Sunday's press conference. "Golf is not my everything…. Tomorrow there's going to be a new tournament and y'all are going to write about other people."

Watson then boarded a plane for his "real life" of diapers.