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Bubba Watson puts heckler in the grave at WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play
Darren Carroll
WrestleMania isn't for another 10 days, but Bubba Watson is getting the smackdown started early at Austin Country Club this week. No, we're not talking about his defense of last year's Dell Match Play title, but instead his response to a heckler who apparently pushed a big red DON'T PUSH button mid-tee shot on Thursday. Needless to say, if you come at Bubba, you best not miss...
So much of how you feel about this depends on WHAT was actually said to Watson, which we will probably never know. He was clearly feeling testy after a bad bunker break led to him losing to Kevin Na on the final hole of his round one match, but this isn't the first time we've heard complaints about the gallery this week. On Tuesday, Rory McIlroy sounded off on rowdy patrons once again, worrying about profanity affecting young fans' ability to enjoy the game and the fact that only top players are subjected to these environmental stressors. On its own, this seems like just another critique from gallery etiquette's current torchbearer, but Watson's incident certainly brings the comments into sharper focus.
As for Bubba 3:16, hoo boy, do not poke the bear people. Before his tee shot even lands, he wheels around on his heckler, saying “It’s funny how tough you are but then looked away. Very funny. Everyone is big behind the ropes.” The only place to go from there is an invitation to the post-round parking lot party, which thankfully never materialized. In the end, though, knowing what we know, we are provisionally team Bubba on this one, even if (read: especially if) all that poor sap said was "baba booey!"