AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Too bad he didn't save it for one of the four days of competition at the Masters.

If Bubba Watson had holed that 9-iron at the 16th hole on Thursday instead of during Wednesday's practice round, he would have carted home a large crystal bowl. Interestingly, Watson has never made a hole-in-one at a PGA TOUR event.

Of course, Watson did earn the much more coveted Green Jacket last year when he beat Louis Oosthuizen on the second hole of sudden death. He also got to keep a sterling silver replica of the Masters Trophy and the gold medal that goes to the winner.

Watson has five pairs of crystal goblets, too -- but none of his eagles came last year. And he did earn a crystal vase for shooting the low round of the day, a 67 in the third round in 2011

We count down the top 5 American players in the field for the 2013 Masters.

Bubba Watson made a number of media appearances in New York last week in preparation for his Masters title defense.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- For months, Bubba Watson kept secret his menu for the annual Champions Dinner at Augusta National.

Tuesday night, the defending champion lifted the curtain, tweeting out a photo of the menu (above), which was signed by all 30 former champions in attendance.

What did Watson serve? Traditional Caesar salad, grilled chicken breast, green beans, mashed potatoes, corn, macaroni and cheese and cornbread.

For dessert, there was confetti cake with vanilla ice cream.

Bubba Watson is hoping to become just the fourth player to successfully defend his Masters title (Cannon/Getty Images)

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- There are two Founders Circle plaques located at the base of the flagpole in front of the Augusta National clubhouse. There are plaques on each of the three named bridges. There's the Arnold Palmer plaque on the drinking fountain behind the 16th tee and the Jack Nicklaus plaque on the drinking fountain between the 16th and 17th tees.

There is not a plaque recognizing Bubba Watson's miraculous second shot on the 10th hole last year to win the Masters. At least not yet.

"Who wouldn't want to see a plaque that says Bubba in the middle of the pine straw?," Watson said with a smile Tuesday. "I would never ask for a plaque."

But ...

"If I do it again this year," he said, "then yes, there should be a plaque."

An emotional Watson met the media 48 hours before the start of his title defense. Watson cried when talking about the one special thing he did with his Masters jacket -- wrapping up his then-new son Caleb in it after he returned home from his victory a year ago. He joked about leaving his Golf Boys buddies and becoming a solo act. He continued to remain mum on the specifics of his menu for Tuesday's Champions Dinner.

But mostly he answered questions about the famous shot from last year, the one that he hooked from out of the trees with a 52-degree wedge to set up his winning par to beat Louis Oosthuizen.

> He went back to the spot for the first time two weeks ago. Playing with his manager, a childhood friend and his host member, Watson and crew took photos from the spot. A day later, during another round at Augusta National, they reached the 10th hole and "didn't even look in that direction," Watson said.

> While playing Augusta National with his wife Angie on Sunday, they went to the spot so that Angie -- who was not at the tournament last year -- could see it. As they finished their round on 18, Watson spied some players who were trying to find the spot. Watson, trying to help out, yelled, "That's not the spot, it's a little over." One of the players in that group was 1970 Masters champ Billy Casper.

> On Monday, Watson and Rickie Fowler played a practice round. "Rickie didn't have any interest about going over there," Watson said.

> Watson said he donated the 52-degree wedge to Augusta National.

> Asked if sometimes he'd rather be known for his four rounds of golf that won the Masters instead of the single shot, Watson shrugged. "Anything that they remember me by is good with me -- if it was four great days of golf; if it was a miracle shot," he said.

> Finally, Watson recalled his process on how he pulled off the shot. Here's how he explained it: "I had the club a little hooded, which is going to make it draw, spin that way.  For me being left-handed, it's going to be a draw. So my stance was closed a little bit. Took one less club, because I was going to be swinging at it so hard. I wanted to go one less club so I could hit it as hard as could, which makes faster clubhead speed, which is going to make the ball curve more. It's going to compress the ball as much as it possibly can. The ball was probably compressed, on a wedge probably compressed it 25 percent in, so at impact it was probably compressed pretty good, even off a wedge, as hard as I swung at it. So that's really how I did it.

"It was all about speed, speed, my hands rolling over, and the way I set up to it with a little closed club face, de-lofted it when I swung it so it went lower, and just all that working together. And how do you make that into scientific terms, I have no idea, but that's what I did."

Bubba Watson ranks sixth in greens in regulation in 2013 at 71.24 percent. (How/Getty Images)

By Bill Cooney, PGATOUR.COM

The first major championship of the season has arrived. Bubba Watson will attempt to become just the fourth back-to-back champion in Masters history this week -- joining some pretty exclusive company. How exclusive? And how does Watson rank in statistics compared to last season? Let's take a look by going inside the numbers ...

3  Number of players who have successfully defended their Masters title – Jack Nicklaus (1965, ‘66), Nick Faldo (‘89, ‘90) and Tiger Woods (2001, ‘02). … Will Bubba Watson join them? Watson has 40-to-1 odds to win, according to Sports Book.

4  Number of double eagles recorded in Masters history. … The last one came last year when Louis Oosthuizen holed out from 253 yards with a 4-iron on the second hole on Sunday. Other double eagles: Jeff Maggert in 1994 (No. 13, Round 4, 222 yards, 3-iron);  Bruce Devlin in 1967 (No. 8, Round 1, 248 yards, 4-wood); Gene Sarazen in 1935 (No. 15, Round 4, 235 yards, 4-wood).

23  Number of holes-in-one at the Masters. … It happened twice in 2012 when Adam Scott and Bo Van Pelt recorded aces on the 16th hole. Scott used a 7-iron from 202 yards while Van Pelt used a 6-iron from 202 yards.

53.94 percent  Driving accuracy percentage this season for Bubba Watson, which ranks 157th on the PGA TOUR. … Watson said in his Masters news conference on Tuesday that his stats have declined from last season to 2013. But that’s not entirely true (More on this in a bit). But his accuracy off the tee has dropped (he was 135th at 58.84 percent in 2012) and his driving distance is also down (315.5 to 301.5).

63  Single-round tournament scoring record at the Masters, which was shot twice. … Nick Price carded a 63 (33-30) in the third round of 1986 en route to finishing fifth. Greg Norman carded a 63 (33-30) in the first round of 1996. Norman, of course, owned a six-shot lead after 54 holes, but finished second to Faldo.

71.24 percent  Greens in regulation percentage this season for Watson, which ranks sixth on TOUR. … That mark is actually better than his 69.95 percent in 2012. Watson has also improved in strokes gained-putting (-.285 in 2012 to .232 in 2013) and scrambling (56.58 percent to 61.36). While Watson has seemingly compiled a fairly quiet season on the golf course, but he does have five T25s in six events, including a pair of top 10s.

90  Age of Doug Ford, the oldest living Masters champion. … Ford won the 1957 Masters, starting Sunday three shots behind Sam Snead. Ford ended up winning by three shots. Ford had 19 PGA TOUR victories and 23 runner-up finishes in his career.

270  Four-round tournament record at the Masters, shot by a 21-year-old Woods in 1997. … Woods, who is the youngest Masters winner, finished off his first Masters victory with rounds of 70-66-65-69. He won by 12 shots, another Masters record for margin of victory. He set a total of 20 Masters records that year, this after opening with a 40 on his first nine.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS ARCHIVE

Week 2: Sony Open/Humana Challenge

Week 3: Humana Challenge/Farmers Insurance Open

Week 4: Farmers Insurance Open/WM Phoenix Open

Week 5: WM Phoenix Open/AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

Week 6: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am/Northern Trust Open

Week 7: Northern Trust Open/WGC-Accenture Match Play

Week 8: WGC-Accenture Match Play/The Honda Classic

Week 9: The Honda Classic/WGC-Cadillac Championship

Week 10: WGC-Cadillac/Tampa Bay Championship

Week 11: Tampa Bay Championship/Arnold Palmer Invitational

Week 12: Shell Houston Open

Week 13: Valero Texas Open

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

Bubba Watson’s involvement in the creation of “BW1” -- a customized hovercraft that has the look of a golf cart -- shouldn’t come as a surprise.

After all, a year ago he purchased a replica of the General Lee car used in the Dukes of Hazzard television show.

“We were spit-balling ideas of how to grow the game and make it fun,” Watson said. “Who wouldn’t want to play golf and drive a hovercraft?”

Enter one of Watson’s sponsors, Oakley, and Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc., which makes hovercrafts for recreational use as well as for commercial, rescue and military purposes.

Within 24 hours, the YouTube video of Watson riding around in BW1 had more than a million views.

It won’t be the last look at it, either. BW1 will make an appearance in a segment on the Today Show on Friday.

At first, it was thought the video might be an April Fool’s joke. Oakley confirmed it was real, however, and it has gone viral since.

What will ultimately happen with Bubba’s Hover?

After its stop in New York it will be shipped back to Oakley for a promotional shoot.

Then? Perhaps Watson’s garage.

“I’ll have to see if it’s practical to have at the house,” Watson said. “And if they’ll let me bring it on the golf course (at Isleworth).”

Watson appeared on the CNBC set at the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday morning.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

A year ago, Bubba Watson went on a two-day whirlwind media tour following his victory at the Masters.

Tuesday and Wednesday, he revisited many of those same stops with the hope it will energize him as he returns to Augusta National to defend his title next week.

“I want to try to win this thing again,” Watson said via cell phone after interviews that included everyone from ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption to GQ. “It’s been a blast, and it’s given me a lot of positive thoughts going into the Masters.”

Watson hasn’t won since capturing his first major, but he’s not letting that get him down.

After all, it wasn’t that long ago that Watson hadn’t won at all. His first four years on the PGA TOUR, Watson barely contended much less hoisted a trophy.

Then in 2010, he won the Travelers Championship. It was the first of four victories over the next 34 months. Watson was also in contention more, too.

But success came with an adjustment period.

“When (I first won the Masters) it was overwhelming,” Watson said. “I was trying to figure out my life, how do we handle all this.

“But we’ve dialed it in and figured out how Bubba works best.”

Though he hasn’t come contended much this season, Watson has finished in the top 20 in five of his six starts. His best result was a tie for fourth at the season-opening event in Maui, but that was cut short due to weather and Dustin Johnson declared the winner after 54 holes.

Not that Watson is necessarily disappointed.

In the past 12 months, he adopted a baby boy with his wife Angie, won a major, became a media darling, moved into Tiger Woods’ old house at Isleworth and has become even more of a YouTube sensation with his latest video showcasing him on the golf course in a specially designed hovercraft.

“It’s been a blast,” Watson said as he boarded a plane home to Orlando. “It’s funny, my first four years I never won and I never got down on myself. Then I did win and when you look at my career path it’s been crazy to win and win a major.

“But I don’t put pressure on myself. My life doesn’t revolve around just winning golf tournaments. If it did, it would be a sad life.”

Bubba Watson rolls in a 44-foot birdie putt early in the final round at Bay Hill, while Graeme McDowell sinks a 24-footer for birdie on No. 10.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

DORAL, Fla. -- The Masters is just five weeks away, and Bubba Watson is feeling behind in his preparation.

"I went to Maui playing really well, even as sick as I was, fever, not eating for a couple of days, I still finished fourth because I was playing well," Watson said Wednesday from the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship. "Then got sick again, lost some more weight, so my golf swing changed.

"I was getting lazy and my swing was coming inside, I was coming over the top and I was doing all these crazy things where I was hitting shots I'm not used to hitting, like way off the planet."

Perhaps a return trip to Trump Doral will help. Watson finished second here a year ago.

He arrives here trying to gain weight, find his swing, and get his energy level back so he can hit the shots he normally hits.

For the most part, however, Watson has played well. He tied for fourth in the season-opener then finished 15th in Phoenix the following month.

A week later, he missed the cut in L.A., but then he reached the quarterfinals of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

As for the Masters?

Watson will next play at Bay Hill then schedule a trip to Augusta National.

Last year's victory there was life changing. There have been more demands on Watson's time since, but it wasn't the biggest change. The adoption of his son Caleb by he and wife Angie was.

"I was hitting the ball pretty good the last couple days here and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year and especially Augusta," Watson said. "But easily adoption was the best thing that happened to us. That's the most important stuff and golf just let's me pay for the diapers."