Bubba Watson won the 2012 Masters Golf Tournament, on Easter Sunday, with a spectacular hook shot from the trees on the second playoff hole. His win spoiled the day for Louis Oosthuizen, who had made history earlier at the par-5 second hole, scoring the fourth double eagle in the 76 year history of the Masters championship.
With his win, Watson has become the third left hander in history to win the Masters, and fourth to win any of golf’s four major championships. Here is my list of the Top 5 Left Handed PGA Golfers of All Time.
Phil Mickelson: Mickelson is one of four (right or left-handed) to win the NCAA and US Amateur championships in the same year, and is the last to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur (the 1991 Northern Telecom Open). In his professional career he has won 40 times on the PGA Tour (tied for 9th with Cary Middlecoff) and has four major championships, including the Masters three times.
Mike Weir: Weir became the first left hander to win the Masters, in 2003, and second to have won any of golf’s majors (Bob Charles won the 1963 British Open). He has won a total of eight times on the PGA Tour. Mike Weir’s Masters win in 2003 seems to have opened the flood gates for lefties at that event, as they have now won five of the last ten tournaments: Weir in 2003, Mickelson (2004, ’06, ’10), and now Watson in 2012.
Bob Charles: A native of New Zealand, Bob Charles won six times on the PGA Tour, from 1963 to 1974. His British Open victory in 1963 was the first major championship ever won by a left handed golfer. With 24 wins in international golf tournaments, plus an additional 23 on the PGA’s Champions Tour, Bob Charles may be the winningest left-handed professional of all-time.
Gerry “Bubba” Watson Jr: One of the longest hitters ever, Watson recorded a 422 yard drive while playing on the Nationwide Tour. His victory at the 2012 Masters is his first major championship and fourth overall win on the PGA Tour. Having claimed one win in 2010, two in 2011, and now the Masters in the spring of 2012, the future looks very bright for Bubba Watson.
Steve Flesch: Steve Flesch has won four times on the PGA Tour, from the 2003 HP Classic of New Orleans to the 2007 Turning Stone Resort Championship. He also has several near misses, eight times finishing in second or third place, most recently finishing third in August of 2011 at the Reno-Tahoe Open.
Harold Andrews has played golf for nearly 50 years (competitively and recreationally) and considers Jack Nicklaus the greatest golfer of all time.
