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RBC CANADIAN OPEN

July 22, 2015

Bubba Watson

OAKVILLE, ONTARIO

THE MODERATOR: Like to welcome Bubba Watson. Bubba, you just got done playing in the RBC Canadian Open Pro-Am. Why don't you talk about the course a little and then we'll have a few questions?

BUBBA WATSON: The course looks nice. The greens are in perfect shape. I think it was two years ago I played here. Really wet, different conditions. It's nice to see a firmness and beautiful, beautiful greens. That is the first thing pros look at is what the greens look like. These are running true. They're running nice. If this wind keeps up, they're going to get firm and fast, which we don't like.

THE MODERATOR: You've got two wins this season, and we're coming down the stretch.

BUBBA WATSON: Well, I've got one win this season. I still go by calendar year.

Q. Well, we're coming to the stretch run toward the end of the season. Just kind of talk about where you stand and your thoughts coming into the next five, six weeks before the playoffs?
BUBBA WATSON: You know, I stayed in a nice position, I think. I haven't looked at it since I missed the cut last week. But I'm somewhere around top 10, to maybe top 5. Looking forward to the challenge of winning, trying to compete. Trying to get farther up the FedEx points, get ready for the playoffs. This year I threw this in last minute because of my in-laws coming in from Newfoundland, so I threw this in last minute so all of our families could hang out and meet, and I played the golf course a few years, so I know it. Hopefully this time I can play a lot better than I have in the past.

Q. I know it's not a major, but how much different --
BUBBA WATSON: They're all majors. I don't know how many trophies you have, but any trophy is a good one.

Q. How much different is this course, and how much different do you expect this week to be than the weekend at British? Obviously, hoping the weather was better?
BUBBA WATSON: I was only at the week because the wind. I missed the cut, so I didn't get to see it in tough conditions.

Q. Would it be nice to see it play four rounds of golf in good weather?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, it's always nice. I mean, if you play golf, you want to have nice weather. But, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It's a challenging golf course. My caddie caddied for Grant Waite in 2000 when Tiger hit the shot out of the bunker. I don't know if you've ever seen it, but it's a pretty good shot. So my caddie finished second here with Grant Waite in 2000. So he has memories of this place. He's seen it with different conditions, I've seen it in different conditions. So right now it would be nice if the wind would come down a little bit, it would be a little bit better. But it's beautiful. I've seen the weather. It's supposed to be beautiful the next few days. So it will be a nice championship. And any time you can hold a trophy, major, non-major, doesn't matter. Holding a trophy is what we're trying to do.

Q. How are you a different player now as a father than you were prior to the kids coming along?
BUBBA WATSON: Well, I think before, I don't know if you ever checked media, but they wrote me as a head case, and I agree with that. I was a hot head. I wanted to play better. I think the stepping stones before we adopted our kids was going in the right -- trending in the right direction. But I think as kids, it makes you realize what's more important. My son could care a less what I shoot. He could care a less. All he knows is daddy's done and now we can go play. So it puts life, not just golf, but it puts life in perspective. What is the most important and then it shows that golf is just a game. Truthfully at the end of the day, if I never win another trophy or if I win a hundred more trophies, my son could care a less, and that's what's most important, family. That's why we're up here because of family. My son got to meet his great grandma the last two days. She's from Newfoundland, so she got on the plane. She's 80-plus years old, not to put a number on her age, but she's an older lady. So for them to get to hang out, our adoption is not final with Dakota, so she couldn't come out of the country. So great-grandma couldn't meet Dakota yet, but got to meet Caleb. That just shows it's more important for family than us trying to make a putt.

Q. The media tours that you've done after both of your Masters victories, it's the one that Jordan just did after his. Something the PGA TOUR hasn't done historically in the past until just recently. How important do you think those media tours are that you guys do now that once you win a major championship and you get to cross over and the general public gets to see more of guys like yourself going?
BUBBA WATSON: Well, first part of this to be funny is Tiger won most of those majors, and Tiger doesn't need to do a media tour. Every day is a media tour for him. So for us beginners that are winning majors for the first time, we're doing media tours. For us, it shows a different side of people. It shows, Jordan Spieth, we see him as a young kid who is dominating his play. You saw me hit a crazy shot in 12. So for me, it's about getting your personality out. Sometimes we look boring on the golf course. 5-hour round, we look pretty boring out there. So shows personality, shows what we care about, shows what we like and who we are as people. So that's what the media tours are for is just to show who we are as people. So they're fun. For us, people that don't win too many majors, it's fun to go around and hang out in New York and do some of the fun stuff that you don't get to do.

Q. Do you think they're more important from a golf perspective, from a game perspective?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, because you're going to hit an audience that doesn't get used to seeing who Jordan Spieth is or Bubba Watson is. So they're getting to see you for the first time, and it might be people that don't normally watch golf. So they might go, oh, I like Jordan Spieth. I'm going to start watching him. So they get interested in watching golf or maybe wanting to play it. Or a kid sees it and they want to play because they like what Jordan Spieth talked about. He's only 21, so there are a lot of kids out there that can relate to him still.

Q. Can you give us a little bit of insight if Jordan Spieth, the way he's playing?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, he hits fairways, hits greens and makes putts.

Q. No, in comparison to what Tiger had on TOUR -- I realize that was right at the beginning when you were coming out when Tiger was at his best.
BUBBA WATSON: I think even if Jordan was sitting here today, he'd tell you you can't compare him to Tiger. You can't compare Tiger to Jack Nicklaus because it's a different era, different time, different equipment, different everything. But Jordan is playing unbelievable. A few years ago McIlroy missed a few cuts and then he won a few majors in a row, and everybody went from saying he wasn't playing very good to he was the best player in the world. So it always goes in spurts. Right now he's playing the best out of everybody. I think McIlroy's trying to rehab, so he can start playing. He wants to make sure he stays No. 1, and he competes at a high level. So it's good for golf. Jordan is creating a great buzz for golf. Rickie winning the Scottish, great buzz for golf. And then the buzz is going to be better when Rory's back a hundred percent rehabbed, just that much more these young kids pushing the game. Every year we've had somebody. We've had Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Arnold Palmer was before my time, but Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods pushed it pretty good. Phil did a pretty good job too. Even though he's never been No. 1 in the world, he's done a good job pushing the game. So right now we're in a good spot in golf.

Q. You mentioned the in-laws and the family. Do you have any particular -- does that make this tournament a little more special for you to try to win it, try to put this one on the mantel so you can have that?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, then my in-laws would think I was great. My in-laws would be -- they'd be kings around here. Right now my wife and my father-in-law, and I call him my money man, but my right-hand man are playing in the Pro-Am with Retief Goosen right now. I bought a Pro-Am spot for them so my father-in-law could think he was the King of the world playing in the Pro-Am, and he gets to play with Retief Goosen. Obviously, it would be big. Like I said before, any tournament's a big win. But winning a national Open and an Open that is part of my family now, me being part of Canada, I guess you could say. I've got two flags at the house, so it's a big deal. It would be a great honor, but a big deal for the family as well.

Q. You talked about Jordan being good for the game. I know it's a year out, but is golf being in the Olympics good for the sport?
BUBBA WATSON: For sure. I believe so. A sport that's been played worldwide like that, why would it not be in the Olympics? I think that, again, this is going to push countries to play golf more. It's going to push kids, young kids all over the world to play golf more. In China, obviously China and Asia is the next big push towards the game of golf. So when they see it in the Olympics, they want to be part of it, and they watch their country in the Olympics, more kids are going to want to be a part of that and be part of something special like that.

Q. If I could just pick up quickly on that. The Presidents Cup is this year. Do you know anything about the course? Have you talked anything to captain?
BUBBA WATSON: No, I'm trying to make the team first before I worry about that. But, yeah, I have a great shot of making the team. I've talked to the captain a bunch. But not about the course, more about just making the team. Basically begging if I can make the team.

THE MODERATOR: I think you're looking good.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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