I believe in order for any golfer to win the Masters he must first and foremost have the skill level to win. But once he has the skill level, there are other factors (especially mental factors) that can affect performance. Here are just two of them that, from my perspective, were responsible for Bubba Watson taking home that green jacket:

Number one, he was happy and his life was in harmony. In the field of golf, it’s not uncommon for members of the LPGA to take a maternity break, have a baby, and when they return they find their golf game has risen to a new level and they suddenly begin winning tournaments. (Just ask Juli Inkster and I’m sure she will confirm this.) In Bubba’s case, just two weeks before the Masters he and his wife Angie adopted a one month old baby boy and named him Caleb. “It’s a blessing. To go home to my new son will be a lot of fun,” Watson said. “Golf isn’t everything for me. If I would have lost today, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. To win is awesome, but I’ll go back to real life next week. I still haven’t changed a diaper.”

And number two, he was “excelling for a higher order.” Bubba was helped by the memory of his late father, Gerry, who died of throat cancer on October 15, 2010. According to USA Today: “Watson has thrown himself into the cause of finding a cure for cancer, which is why one of the biggest hitters on the PGA Tour uses a pink driver with a pink shaft. He also wore pink trim on the all-whites he wore every day of the Masters.”  When you help others less fortunate than yourself, you enhance your feelings of self-worth, thereby enhancing your performance.  As the poet John Bright wrote: “Find yourself a cause, not a resting place.  You may not do much for the cause, but the cause will do much for you.”

Combining the adoption of a new son with the memory of his late father had a powerful positive effect on his performance.