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OLYMPIC GAMES RIO 2016: GOLF

August 14, 2016

Bubba Watson

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Q. Are you busting with pride (that Matt Kuchar won a Bronze Medal for the American)?
BUBBA WATSON: We don't need all these headlines that just make up stuff. All the headlines coming over here, you have never seen better representation of people, a community, a country, and all those headlines that we have in the state. This is one of the greatest golf trips I've ever been on, and it's sad that we have headlines that do that and try to distract us interest our sport. It's sad. It's sad that we had to put up with that.

Q. What are three or four reasons why you said that?
BUBBA WATSON: It's sad.

Q. The things that made it great.
BUBBA WATSON: I met Greg Louganis. The guy is a legend. Then I got the cowbell rang. The field hockey team loves me now. Matt Kuchar got a medal. I'm an Olympian. You want me to keep going? I ran into some track and field people. We have a floor that we all kind of hang out, there are snacks. It's healthy snacks; nobody wants them.
But it's healthy snacks and there's TVs, so we all at different times, you just kind of go down there and see, rowing, some table tennis people. It's amazing as I keep going, and the divers, David and Sam, who we had dinner with who won medals. It's just amazing, when you sit back and think about who I am, I'm just a golfer, right, and now I'm in the Olympics. And these are great American champions that have medals. Like Matt Kuchar I guess.
I can just keep going on and on. This is an absolute thrill of a lifetime, and like I said over there with Golf Channel, this is the greatest sporting event I've ever been a part of and associated with, and it's a thrill of a lifetime.
The Masters, I get the Masters for the rest of my life, but it's just golf. There's no other events going on. And so when you talk about a sporting event, this is a dream come true, and to be a part of it, it's the greatest event I've ever been a part of.

Q. Do you know if they will let you make a pitch to lobby in 2017 for beyond 2020?
BUBBA WATSON: I don't think they are going to have to lobby too hard, especially with this finish coming down the stretch. I'm just hoping the Olympic Committee let's me be a part of it, as I don't make teams coming down the stretch. I can just help out and help the guys any way going forward.

Q. It sounds almost as if you've been humbled by the experience and being in the company of all these different athletes. Is that accurate?
BUBBA WATSON: Oh, for sure. You know, meeting people, learning about their sports. Met the boxer yesterday, talking to her, and listening to her and her strategies and how she trains. The first question I asked was: "How do you lose weight?"
Olympic competition is different. She said they test the day of your match, not the day before. So the day before, she said, that's easy. I said, "That's every woman's dream to be able to lose weight that fast." She laughed. I stood way away in case she got mad at me.
It's humbling, for sure. Like I said yesterday in this area, we should never complain again. We are always going to complain about 3‑putts, but we should never complain about what we have and what we don't have and all these things. We're so blessed. When you look at these other countries, and these athletes that train for years, not just hours, years, and they got 30 seconds or they got a minute or they got under ten seconds.
And I get to show up at Augusta every year from now on because I won there. So it is humbling, for sure. But going into it, this is the greatest thing I've ever done. I'm so honored and pleased that they let me represent the U.S.

Q. Are you sticking around?
BUBBA WATSON: I got the FedExCup, where like I said before, I was blessed and I've got to try to compete in that. I think we leave tomorrow.

Q. Are you going to track?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, I was just talking to some people about tickets. I don't know if we need tickets or we can just show our baths or what. Justin Gatlin is from Pensacola, so he's almost as old as I am. It's pretty amazing to see him at that age. I think he's 34.

Q. Can you talk now about Matt Kuchar winning a medal and what that means to you guys?
BUBBA WATSON: Well, you think about it, I think there was a lot of push, but I would have to say from our side, PGA TOUR side there, had to be a lot of push to get golf in the Olympics. They are one of the big forces, right, so they had to be a lot of push, I'm guessing. I don't know the history or the push, but I'm guessing.
So for us to get a medal, for the United States to get a medal, helped us out a lot. And then it shows how talented, like I said over there, how talented United States golf is. He was last man in. If you go off the headlines, he shouldn't be here. And then he's here because of the headlines.
So it's a thrill. I was grinning from ear to ear every time I looked at the leaderboard and saw he was making pars and making birdies, he was going to get a medal. As long as he signed the scorecard the right way, he was going to get a medal.
I'm a kid in a candy store; again, not because I have a store. It's the thrill of a lifetime to be associated with that, and then to see Matt do that. That's what every athlete wants to do, shoot a good number, race their race the best they know how and win a medal, and that's what he did.

Q. Angie would have been in the 2000 Olympics were it not for the injury. Do you almost feel like for your family, it's closure?
BUBBA WATSON: I guess now I'm the athlete in the family because I'm an Olympian. Everybody always asks that, who is the athlete. I guess I'm the athlete now. Right now it's me and her, so I'm beating her.
I know she's hating being at home right now, even though she's from Canada and pulling for Canada in the events. For me personally, it's the thrill of a lifetime, like I said, and knowing what she went through and missed it because of injuries. That was my whole goal was to make sure I got four rounds in. I don't care if I had to play one‑handed, I was going to figure out a way to finish I haven't talked to her so I don't know how deeply she feels yet because I've been over here for a week.

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