JJ Watt Proves That Sometimes Physically Getting Yourself Out Of A Bunker Is More Difficult Than Getting The Ball Out
One of the most terrifying sights in life is to see your ball end up short-sided in a bunker with the green sloped away from you. That's no hyperbole. It is easily one of the most debilitating and soul-crushing situations you could ever find yourself in. Because you know that even if you miraculously get the ball out of the bunker, there's not a goddamn chance you're going to be able hold the green. You're praying for a double-bogey at this point.
You line up over the ball and tell yourself "keep your weight forward, open the club face, hit an inch or so behind the ball, accelerate through impact". You've watched countless hours of bunker shot tutorial videos on YouTube. You know what to do in that situation, you just don't know how to do it. Because as soon as you take the club back, everything goes blank. Your body betrays you, you blade the ball right into the wall of the bunker, and now you have an even worse lie than you had a second ago. It's awful. You are as rattled as you've ever been in your life.
But even worse than not being able to get your ball out of the bunker is not even being able to get your body out of the bunker. Maybe the bunker was just a little too steep. Maybe you had a few too many adult beverages at the turn and your balance isn't at 100%. Or maybe you're like JJ Watt and found yourself in some ridiculous stance that you never had a chance in a million years to pull off. Either way, not even being able to get yourself out of a bunker is infinitely more embarrassing than not getting your ball out. Heck, even Trent Daddy can get himself out of a bunker after taking a quick 5 strokes to get out.
Now I know that JJ said in his tweet to not ask how or why he got himself into that situation. But seriously...what the fuck was the plan there? For starters, he had his putter in his hand. I've definitely seen people putt their way out of bunkers before, but typically they're pretty shallow. Also, he's set up like he was trying to hit the ball as a lefty. His right foot is forward, left foot back. Maybe he twisted after he fell, but I don't think so.
Was he trying to use the back of a righty putter to just scoop the ball out of the bunker? No idea. Doesn't make a lick of sense. But at least we can all count our next round as a success as long as we don't physically get stuck in a bunker. Thanks, JJ.