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THE GREENBRIER CLASSIC

July 7, 2017

Bubba Watson

White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

Q. Bubba, I thought you showed a lot of patience out there today until you finally got a little something going with three birdies in a row on your inward nine.
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, you know, it was just staying patient you know. Early-morning rounds after a long day before it's quite -- you know, you're tired. Your body just doesn't have the energy, the 100% or 105% you want to give on every shot, so a little sluggish.

And then the putter got hot; saved some pars; made some birdie putts. Gave one back on 8, my 17th, but it was still good. I beat everybody in my group for the day, so it was nice.

Q. You talk about your putting. You made more than the 90 feet in putts in the opening round and 100 feet here in the second round.
BUBBA WATSON: That's a first.

Q. So two days where the putter has cooperated for you.
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, I think an that's a first. I think one putt yesterday was about 50 feet, so that's probably half my putts there. No, it's good. It's good to see them go in.

I've been stroking the ball really nicely the last few weeks and just not making the momentum putts. This week so far I've made the momentum putts, held it together.

Q. Is it hard to hold it together out there knowing what you saw last year with the floods and looking at people in the gallery that you may recognize and those images being burned in your mind?
BUBBA WATSON: For sure. This is home. For me to witness what we witnessed, good, bad, whatever you want to call it, it's one of those I really want to win and be up there on Sunday just to give the people of Greenbrier, of West Virginia, one of their hometown people, something to cheer for.

Q. Nice little run there on the front nine, your back nine. Talk about that.
BUBBA WATSON: Made some putts, par putts. Didn't trust the couple iron shots, so I hit some bad iron shots, but got up and down for par. Made the par putts first which got me positive thinking, and then I made the birdie putts those three in a row, three holes in a row.

It was nice to keep the round going, keep the momentum going. Last few weeks I haven't had that momentum putt to keep me going or keep me in there. Today I made those. Got up and down a couple times and that kept me going and in the round.

Q. You seemed almost frustrated yesterday. Today kind of the opposite.
BUBBA WATSON: Well, I'm a golfer. We're always frustrated. You always want better, right? Yesterday I missed some putts; today I made some putts. I think I hit the ball -- felt like I hit the ball a little bit better yesterday, more committed yesterday, more trust.

Today, you know, for a while I was one swing away from missing the cut, right? I made those par putts, birdie putts, then got well inside the cut and moved up. I don't know what number I am, but let's say 20, 25th place right now.

So it was nice. Yeah, it was one swing away from missing the cut and one swing away from feeling like I have a chance to win. That's what it did. Those three birdies in a row changes the momentum quite a lot.

Q. Playing alongside Danny and Phil. Any extra pressure competing with those guys?
BUBBA WATSON: No, no. Truthfully you don't ever look -- you look at a number, you know what I'm saying? You look at the leaderboard; you don't care who's name it is; you look at the number and how far back, or if you're bad on the cut you look where the cut is.

No, it's always fun. Phil is an absolute legend. To do what he's done in his career, to be able to play alongside him, watch him, learn from him, talk to him about life, how has he handled being a great player and also being a great dad...

And then Danny, you know, we're still trying to decide when Danny is getting married. He's been talking about it for a while. It's coming up I think. So just talking to him and him being a past champion here, just a great player.

So it's fun. It's fun seeing a young guy that's a superstar and then we'll say an old guy - I'm right in the middle - of being a superstar. You learn, you watch, and you get to shoot the breeze, because we're going about on the same stuff in life.

Q. With all that's at stake this weekend and you living here and what happened last year, I know there is a little pressure for you to do well. You seem to have handled it today. I know that probably makes you feel good.
BUBBA WATSON: Oh, for sure. I wish that one guy wasn't up there so high. I would be closer to the lead. But, no, it's one of those things where it's about having fun out there.

Like I said at the beginning of the week, should be a celebration. Ten months ago there was no chance we were going to have a tournament looking at the course, what I saw. I was impressed with what the workers did, what the City did.

But the recovery efforts across the whole state, being a resident here, being a person that loves it here - I bought a house because I loved it - and being a part of it and trying to help as much as we could, it means a lot.

If there was a chance I could have any kind of hope to win on Sunday, get some cheers going, get the people to understand that we all care for them, we love them -- and not just me, everybody here. Everybody here at the tournament are pulling for recovery, pulling for hope and happiness.

A year ago it was the worst thing that's ever happened, you know. Then to be where we are a year later is pretty special. Now Governor Jim Justice and all his team, staff, the volunteers that came and helped out, what an amazing feat they were able to do.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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