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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE

June 3, 2017

Bubba Watson

Dublin, Ohio

Q. Just open up with some comments on your position through three rounds, going to the final?
BUBBA WATSON: I feel good. It's always good to have a shot. I don't know what the lead's going to be at the end of the day. No matter what, I've got a shot. I made the cut.

It will be fun. It's going to be fun around here. It's a tough golf course, as we know. And we're always looking forward to that. The weather seems like it's going to be good, we have normal tee times. It will be a battle, no matter where we are, what position we are at the end of the day.

Q. Is it getting pretty fast out there?
BUBBA WATSON: Yes. I don't want to say this out loud, but it hasn't rained this week (laughter). Normally we get rain so it softens it up. It's probably playing as good as any course you want. U.S. Open is just around the corner, and this can handle a U.S. Open, for sure.

Q. The rhythm you got in sort of the back nine, what did you find the rhythm you discovered and what happened for you?
BUBBA WATSON: The par-3s are not my friend around this place, if you look at the history of me playing this golf course. So the front nine, little things, I thought I was playing well. I thought I was doing everything well. My decision making was good. Missing a fairway here, missing a fairway there, caused me not to make a birdie.

When I hit the fairway on 10, had an 8-iron in there perfect, came off nice. When you get the first birdie, you know, it starts the round, starts the day.

And then we knew if I hit a tee shot that was halfway decent on 11, I could get there. We didn't think it was going to be that good, 207 yards, somewhere around there. Hit a 6-iron in there like four feet. So to make that real fast, you're under par. You shot 2-over and two holes later you're 2-under.

Perfect wedge, it was 169 downwind I think on 12, somewhere in that area and I hit wedge and made the putt.

We just kept going. It wasn't like I was stressing, am I 2-over or anything. We knew that a birdie would come eventually, and somehow it just came in bunches so it worked out.

Q. You get on a roll, so much of this game is mental, what does it do for your mental status going into tomorrow?
BUBBA WATSON: I knew 16 was coming up, and I don't like that hole very much. I'm not sure anybody likes that hole very much except Jack because he laughs every time you make a bogey or double or triple.

I had the momentum yesterday, so it made me feel good about today. Then the front nine happened. I'm looking forward to it. Every week we're trying to get in the hunt and have a chance. I don't know what the lead is now, I don't know what the lead is going to be. We've got to shoot in the 60s. If you don't shoot in the 60s, more than likely you can't win. I have to play better on the front and play better on the back.

Q. Was it good into the heat of the tournament?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, for sure. We knew -- me and Teddy talked about it, even after the front nine we knew a couple under or even par, you're not out of it because this golf course is so demanding. I don't know where Duf is at now, you can shoot over par pretty quick.

You can hit some great iron shots. I hit a great iron shot on No. 8. 188, I hit an 8-iron, landed past the pin and bounced over and made bogey. I wasn't trying to hit it 188, I was trying to hit it 178 just short of the hole. It flew way over the flag, everything did except go the right distance.

And so, again, it was a bogey, but it wasn't because of nerves or technique or anything, the ball went farther than we expected. We know that can happen around here because of these small greens and the firmness of them, because there's been no rain and how fast they're getting right now.

Q. The second shot on 11, how close were you with that?
BUBBA WATSON: Give or take four feet.

Q. It will be an interesting ending there. What was going on, was somebody heckling you?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, obviously not a Bubba Watson fan (laughter).

It started early. It started about 50 yards short of the green. He kept going. I'm taking a guess, he wasn't drinking water like I was all day. But it's one of those things. I don't mind a heckler, but when kids are around and stuff, you try to be quiet about it if you're going to use the wrong language. And so it was just one of those things. It doesn't matter if I had three-putted, it wasn't -- I just wanted to get him out of here because I don't think that's right. I'm out here trying to grind and get better at the game. I wasn't yelling at him. I didn't like for him to yell at me, calling me a bunch of names and different things.

I told Teddy, Watch over there, when I get over this putt he's going to yell something, that was common sense. When I got over to do my practice strokes, he started yelling.

I said, That's it. Teddy, will you tell me who it is, and let's get the police officer. Teddy got the wrong guy first, but then they pointed him out. I did sign a glove for that guy who got handcuffed first -- no, I'm just playing with you. Nobody was handcuffed, by the way, that was a joke. Bubba said a joke again.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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