Robert TheodorsonFrom being nearly kicked out of LIV Golf to having a legitimate shot at finishing the season in the Top 10 of the individual standings, Bubba Watson is an easy decision for comeback player of the 2025 LIV Golf season.
Normally awards seasons is held at the conclusion of the playing year as opposed to smack dab in the middle, but with only two regular season tournaments left, there’s little sense in waiting.
By far one of the friendliest and most outgoing personalities in LIV, Bubba still draws the crowds after twenty-three plus years in the business.
2025 – The Last Road to Redemption
Watson’s first full season in 2023 as captain of his RangeGoats wasn’t pretty. Finishing 36th with a smaller field, and often being a detriment to his team, Watson often looked lost in his new position as team captain and marquee name the fans expected a big time show from.
The RangeGoats were an instant success, but Watson was not. In only their fifth tournament, the team known for their pink and black uniforms, styled after their captain’s favourite colours, won in Singapore and ended the season with an astonishing six podium finishes.
This was mostly in part to Talor Gooch, the 2023 Individual Champion who was somewhat unceremoniously traded at the end of the 2023 campaign to Brooks Koepka’s Smash for Matt Wolff.
The real reasoning behind the trade has never been explained to this day, and many felt Watson was purposely dismantling a very successful team who had found popularity fast.
2024 was a cold, brutal year for Watson, finishing in 53rd place with zero top ten finishes to his name, the former two-time Masters winner contemplated retirement and taking up broadcasting after it was hinted that he could be relegated out of the league completely after finishing in the dreaded Drop Zone.
It was a peculiar predicament for LIV, a team captain had never been kicked out of the league before and nobody knew how to handle such a situation. The prospect raised serious questions as to how the league would handle outing one of the thirteen captains, and certainly one of the most beloved golfers in LIV.
In the end, it was decided that jettisoning the man who owns a large stake in the team would be bad for business and bad optics for a league still trying to find it’s footing. Would retaining Bubba pay off?
Everything Comes Together in The UK
One of Watson’s top moments on the 2025 season undoubtedly was last week’s duel with eventual LIV UK winner Joaquin Niemann.
What had the makings of a relatively boring Championship Sunday in which Niemann looked like he would simply stroll away with his fifth win of the season turned into one of the most exciting challenges from Watson, or any golfer, this entire season.
With little to play for a week after the last major championship of the season, and a seemingly insurmountable first-place score from Niemann, LIV UK was in desperate need of a jolt.
Scoring on every hole from 9 – 14, including two improbable eagles on 10 and 13, Watson turned the potential bore-fest into an unlikely run that had all of JCB Golf and Country Club cheering the pink-clad RangeGoats captain on.
Starting the day 8-under par, but faltering early with three bogeys on the front nine, LIV UK would have been a nice tournament, likely a Top 10/15 finish for Watson, regardless.
His incredible run, highlighted by his two eagle shots, resulted in Watson’s best finish since joining the league in 2023.
With three Top 10 finishes this season (LIV UK 2nd place; LIV Virginia T4; LIV Mexico City T7) Watson has all but assured himself a spot in The Lock Zone, a far cry from his near dead last finish in 2024.
Augusta Turning Point – Watson Dazzles at The Masters, Again
There was every reason for Watson to disappear into the field at the 2025 Masters.
Starting the season off with a bang, coming in T12 at the season-opener in Riyadh, Watson suffered multiple setbacks with a number of middle-of-the-pack finishes.
What looked like a promising start from golfing in the dark in Riyadh looked like it was going to be more of the same from 2024.
Before we knew it, it was April and major championship season was officially about to begin. At that point, little to nothing was expected out of Watson and everyone was taking bets on whether Bryson DeChambeau or Joaquin Niemann could beat out Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler.
To make matters worse, Bubba had not even made the cut at Augusta since 2022. An oddity for the accomplished Watson who had won the coveted green jacket not once, but twice, earlier in his career.
The 2025 Comeback Player of the Year
Before the start of the 2025 season, we handed out superlatives and made predictions as to how the upcoming LIV Golf season would transpire.
The pick for Comeback Player of the Year? It was Phil Mickelson, and back then, rightfully so.
Before the season started Mickelson explained his precarious position and explained how he was working to redefine his game to compete with his colleagues twenty and thirty years his junior. The plan involved not trying to kill the ball for 300+ yards on every drive, making smart plays, and relying on his otherworldly short game.
Earlier in the season, Lefty was having a similar season trajectory that Watson is currently enjoying, though the former has faced some recent setbacks as of late.
Like Watson, Mickelson has three Top 10 finishes this season including a 3rd place podium finish at LIV Hong Kong.
Also, like Watson, Phil had an equally good chance to win LIV Virginia, a tournament that featured several suitors jockeying for position at the top of the leaderboard, looking for their first win of the season.
It served as the penultimate tournament to remind everyone the sheer amount of talent that had been accumulated over the years as Bubba, Phil, and Dustin Johnson all had an equally good chance to win before falling to eventual winner Joaquin Niemann.
While Watson was only invited to Augusta, Phil’s major season was a disaster until a surprise T56 finish at Royal Portrush a few weeks ago. For the award we always take major championship play into account.
Comeback Player of the Year will likely come down to the next man to secure a podium finish, if not an outright win.
While Watson is better in the standings by a few points, we do note that Phil is in The Lock Zone without even participating in LIV Riyadh.
We will be watching these two legends until the very end to hand out our Comeback Player of the Year nod, cheering all the way, and wishing good luck to two of our favourite golfers!
