Bubba Watson: Driving for a Cause Close to His Heart | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
Mia Horton As Bubba Watson prepares to defend his title this weekend at the Farmers Insurance, he is preparing for another year long commitment.
Watson is launching his "Bubba & Friends: Drive to a Million" campaign. What is this about? From Watson's page, the Ping's press release indicates:
“As part of "Bubba & Friends Drive to a Million" initiative announced by Bubba, PING will donate $300 for the first 300 drives that he launches over 300 yards in 2012. Last season, he averaged nearly 315 yards per drive on the PGA Tour. PING is also making an upfront donation of $10,000 toward its fundraising event, which it calls "Bubba Long in Pink. Driven by PING." All funds raised will go to Phoenix-area charities, chosen by PING with Bubba's support.” |
And to help raise awareness to this initiative, he will put in play this week, a especially made for him, pink-headed Ping G20 driver for the rest of the year.
Written in cursive on the crown of his G20 driver are the words, “Made Exclusively for Bubba.” The loft is 8.5 degrees, the 44.50-inch shaft is a pink True Temper Grafalloy Bi-Matrix. Grips are PING 703 Gold. He takes 10 wraps of tape under his right hand, 12 wraps under his left.
This is a great gesture from Watson, ranked 21st in the world, who back in 2010 had a very emotional year from which he is literally driving his energy towards this initiative.
On October 15, 2010, Watson's father, Gerry, lost his battle to throat cancer.
And during a trip to see his father the previous Christmas, Bubba got a scare, when his wife Angie was initially thought to be suffering from cancer.
She was diagnosed with a tumor in her pituitary gland, but after seeking a second opinion, it was found that she had an enlarged pituitary gland.
Watson is no stranger to donating money for a good cause.
Last year, after a conversation with Ryuji Imada, a former teammate at Georgia, he donated $50,000 to the American Red Cross. this donation was geared towards helping with the relief efforts in Japan after it was hit by an earthquake and tsunami.
This a year after he had made a donation to help in Haiti's recovery after the massive earthquake in the devastated country.
Last September, Watson donated $100,000 to support the Ronald McDonald House in Pensacola, Florida.
Watson also had shown his support for The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in his community. He hosted a Junior Golf Tournament for kids ages 5 to 16, free for all who wanted to participate.
The tournament raised more than $25,000 for The Victory Junction Camp—a Hole in the Wall Gang Camp affiliate—in Randleman, North Carolina.
Watson shows he has a heart bigger than any of his drives.
Now every time you see Watson with his pink driver, remember what that color pink means, as it will be the point-of-attraction when he tees-off.
His latest quest to help those in need.
You can keep track of his progress by visiting his web page, and hopefully we will see him get to his goal this year to benefit those charities in need.
