When Watson is ‘on’ with his biggest stick in the bag, the rest of the field must feel like they’re wading knee deep in mud trying to keep up. It was especially true on this Sunday, which Watson - a left-hander with the most powerful of power fades - conceded fits his eye perfectly.
February’s ice storms may have destroyed Ike’s Tree and thinned out many others in its wake but they were Watson’s ally this week. The champion noted there was more room "at the top of some trees" than previously which helped him feel more comfortable with the tee shots on seven, 11 and 18 [holes that for him traditionally require a draw] where he has notoriously struggled.
Perhaps only a player of Watson’s flamboyance and ball striking prowess could identify an advantage to be had in having less foliage in the upper reaches of mature pines.
Nowhere else than Augusta National do the corridors of trees framing each hole, coupled with the undulation and shape of the fairways, suit Watson more from the tee. Tempering his normal aggression, Watson took apart the golf course by hitting his ‘slice’ driver with regularity, sliding the ball between the trees and taking advantage of the right-to-left cant of the fairways.
A golf course long regarded as favouring the right-handed drawer of the ball has now yielded its sixth left-handed winner - following Phil Mickelson in 2004, 2006 and 2010 and Mike Weir in 2003 - in the past 12 editions of the tournament.
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