Bubba Watson went on a “charm offensive” this week at the French Open.  After missing the cut by a mile today, he basically did everything he could to reinforce the “ugly American” stereotype that many Europeans have.

, for one, was not impressed with his behavior and went on a twitter tirade against Watson:

Players on the LPGA spend quite a bit more time playing around the world than your typical PGA Tour player.  So I think Christina probably has some good perspective on what it takes to navigate foreign culture that Bubba doesn’t?

I’ve traveled all over the world, and honestly it doesn’t take that much effort to at least not look like a jackass.  I’ve managed to do it, and I wasn’t ever getting paid anywhere near $200k for the trip.  You don’t have to like every place you visit, but you need to at least make an effort to try new things and not come across as the “ugly American.”

What do you get when you make a music video featuring Ben Crane, Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, and an overall clad Bubba Watson?  Watch the video below the break to find out.

Wow…  Ryo Ishikawa announced earlier this week that he is donating all of his 2011 tournament earnings to disaster relief in his home country of Japan.

Ishikawa may not be a household name in the US yet, but he will be soon.  He’s a phenomenal golfing talent.  He won his first start on the Japanese Tour as an amateur at the age of 15.  And last year he shot a 58 on the Japanese Tour, the lowest round of golf ever recorded on a professional tour.

But in addition to playing great golf, the 19-year old has shown maturity beyond his years with this latest gesture.  If he matches his earnings world-wide from last year, he could end up donating $2m or more.

Ishikawa is joining a number of his fellow players in making substantial donations to assist the Japanese people.  KJ Choi has donated $100k.  Bubba Watson wrote a check on the spot for $50k.  Several players have been donating money for every birdie they make.  And I’m sure a number of other players have made donations that we’ll never hear about.

Ishikawa has played 5 events so far this year only making 2 cuts, so he’s certainly not a favorite with the bookies to win the Masters next week.  But I’m guessing that he will be a favorite with the fans at Augusta.  I certainly know who I’m going to be rooting for next week.

Sports Illustrated

[Image Flickr/jpellgen]

Last year, Bubba Watson was all that stood between Martin Kaymer and his first major.  Kaymer defeated Watson in a 3-hole playoff to claim the PGA Championship.  Yesterday, Watson was all that was standing between Kaymer and the #1 world ranking.

It took just a little bit longer (a full 18 holes), but after Kaymer won the 16th hole to go dormie, he seemed destined to displace Lee Westwood on top of the world golf rankings, a spot that Westwood has held since Oct 31st.

I’ve stated a number of times that I think Martin Kaymer is currently the best player in the world.  Nobody else has matched his performance over the past year and now the rankings have finally caught up to reality.

Kaymer will now face Luke Donald in the final match of the WGC-Accenture.  The number 1 spot is secure, but I’m sure that Kaymer would love to put an exclamation point on it with a win.  That’s going to be a tough task, as Donald has birdied 13 of his last 27 holes.  But he can’t stay that hot forever can he?

As most people expected, Jamie Sadlowski handily outdrove Bubba Watson, Robert Garrigus and Dustin Johnson during their competition today on the 18th hole.

The format was interesting.  They played a two round elimination event.  Each player got 3 shots and the ball had to be in play to count.  They moved the players up to to the Women’s tees, bringing the overall length of the hole down to 455 yards from the normal 663 yards.

This had the interesting effect of bringing the hazard into play and caused the players to land the ball in a much flatter area of the course which led to significantly less roll than I and others had been expecting.  Additionally the wind was in their face, which is about 180 degrees opposite from the usual playing conditions.

Still, Sadlowski unleashed the longest drive of the day during the final round, poking one out 407 yards.  Watson struggled a bit in the finals and was “only” able to hit one 352 yards.  The first round was actually closer with Sadlowski hitting it 398, with Watson (370), Garrigus (365), and Dustin Johnson (352) not as far behind him as some might have been expecting.

It was pretty obvious from the outset however that the PGA guys knew they had no real chance of winning.  It truly was the Jamie Sadlowski show.  At one point in the finals while Bubba was hitting his shots, Frank Nobilo actually asked Sadlowski if he thought he could beat Bubba with his 3 wood.  Ouch.  And even though Sadlowski said no, I think he really mean “duh”.

After he won, Sadlowski demonstrated his “amphibiousness” (to quote Boo Weekly), by hitting Watson’s back-up driver left-handed.  He didn’t do too badly, pegging a spectator about 280 yards out from the tee.

I’ve heard now and then that Sadlowski may make a run at the PGA Tour.  He’s supposedly a plus handicap golfer.  All I can say is that it would be a lot of fun to see him playing in PGA events.  400 yard drives and 215 yard 7-irons would be one heck of a draw for fans and could possibly give golf a much needed boost.

Golfweek

[Image Flickr/rbglasson]

It’s often a hotly debated topic on internet golf boards:  How do the longest driving PGA Tour Pros compare to the long drive competition specialists?

This week we may get an answer (or at least more fodder for the internet forums).  At the 2011 season opener in Kapalua, Jamie Sadlowski, the current king of the long drive will square up against the 3-longest drivers on the PGA Tour, Robert Garrigus, Dustin Johnson, and Bubba Watson, on the 18th hole of the Plantation Course.

The 18th hole is a great choice in many respects.  First, it plays downhill and downwind.  There’s a bit right to left slope that causes a baby draw down the right hand side to produce a drive that runs and runs and runs.

Because of all this, the 18th hole will produce some huge numbers for us all to ooh and aah about.  I’m guessing that these guys just might have a chance to surpass my 432 yard drive there a few months ago [that was sarcasm].  In fact, I suspect that we may see a drive of 500 yards or more.

The other side effect of all this is that the competition will be much closer than it should be.  Let’s face it, while the PGA guys hit the ball a long way, they don’t hit 400+ yard drives like Sadlowski does.  On a long drive grid, he could probably outdrive them with his 3-wood.  But on the 18th, they may actually be able to hit the slope at the right angle and sneak one out past him.

There are still plenty of blanks to be filled in about the competition.  Will it be 1 swing each, or 6 like in a long drive competition?  Do drives that run though the fairway down into the rough near the hazard still count?  Will they be allowed to use extra-long drivers or will they be limited to 48″?

And finally, will this competition actually make it onto the TV broadcast?  I think that they’ll show at least a few minutes of it while somebody is waiting 10 minutes to get a ruling on how to properly take a drop from a water hazard, but who knows?  I certainly have my fingers crossed.

[Update: The Golf Channel will be airing highlights from the Long Drive Competition and the Celebrity Pro/Am tonight during the Fedex Cup Kickoff (Wednesday) between 9-11pm Eastern.  Click here to see my synopsis of the results.]

Honolulu Star-Advisor

[Image Flickr/zzazazz]

Yes, you heard me.  Check out this video of Bubba Watson making an Albatross (a freaking 2 on a par-5) from 283 yards out with his 4-wood on Friday at the Chevron World Challenge.  Of course I make shots like that all the time, but since most people don’t, I thought you all might like to see it for yourself.

Bubba Watson was apparently bored last weekend and decided to make some entertaining videos. Click the continue link to view them all.

And the coup de grace…

I guess he didn’t want to be outdone by Ben Crane?

Golf.com