Tag: Up and Down

Bubba Watson signs deal to sport Troon logo on his golf bag

The two-time Masters champ also will appear in Troon social media channels and at sponsored events.

Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson has signed a deal to represent course-management company Troon with a logo on his golf bag. Watson also will engage with Troon on social media and take part in select events sponsored by the Arizona-based company.

The deal runs through the 2022-23 PGA Tour season. Terms were not released.

Watson, 43, has been in the news frequently lately as he has released a book, “Up & Down, Victories and Struggles in the Course of Life,” that discusses the 12-time Tour winner’s struggles with mental health.

“We are proud to welcome Bubba to Team Troon,” Tim Schantz, president and chief executive officer of Troon, said in a media release announcing the news. “Bubba is a global ambassador for golf and, like Troon, is committed to growing the game through supporting junior and women’s golf. His philanthropic efforts through the Bubba Watson Foundation and openness about mental health continue to help those in need and is to be applauded.”

Troon manages more than 640 18-hole-equivalent courses around the globe. Other Troon-sponsored professional golfers include Justin Thomas, Gary Woodland, Matt Kuchar, Matthew Fitzpatrick, and Cheyenne Woods.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Bubba Watson opens up on mental health struggles in new book: ‘Golf was killing me’

“Golf was killing me.”

Bubba Watson joined the PGA Tour in 2006. Four years later, he became a Tour winner at the 2010 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. And when he drove down Magnolia Lane on Monday in 2012, he was not only a then three-time Tour winner but a new dad. Just a few days earlier, Watson and his wife, Angie, adopted their first child, Caleb.

Sunday afternoon, his back seat had another new passenger – a green jacket.

In four days, Watson went from a solid PGA Tour pro to a Masters champion and one of the biggest names in the sport. And two years later, after another triumph at Augusta National, cemented himself as a star.

But with that stardom, came hardship.

No longer could Watson stroll through Tour events without interviews, TV appearances, and everything else that came with a high world ranking. Everyone wanted a piece of him.

And as those pieces started to be cut off, so did Watson’s weight.

As the opening scene of his new book, “Up and Down,” depicts the Bagdad, Florida, native hopelessly standing on a scale realizing he’s down 30 pounds with no explanation from doctors as to why.

“Golf was killing me,” he writes.

[vertical-gallery id=778072620]

At that moment Watson understood he couldn’t do this by himself. He needed to open up to the people in his life, leaning on them for support. When the conversations started, so did his recovery.

The weight, slowly but surely, started to come back, and once Watson realized he was getting better decided to tell his story.

Throughout ‘Up and Down: Victories and Struggles in the Course of Life‘, the two-time major winner describes his incredibly important relationship with wife Angie, including how they met at the University of Georgia. His relationship with long-time caddie, Ted Scott, and how he clashed with both the media and other players on Tour.

“I chose to make golf and life fun again. To live the life I wanted, not the life people expected me to live. Somewhere along the way, I began to accept that there is a bit of a pattern that connects my life and my performance on the golf course,” said Watson. “My best playing didn’t come back until I regained control of the fear and anxieties that were clouding my mind.”

Hopefully, Watson’s story will not only allow other players to voice their struggles with mental health, anxiety, or any other battle their fighting, but the world.

When you open up to someone, more often than not, it results in a conversation rather than a monologue. Everyone is going through something.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]