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RBC CANADIAN OPEN

July 27, 2017

Bubba Watson

Oakville, Ontario, Canada

Q. Nice round out there, made it look easy. Was it?
BUBBA WATSON: No. It's always -- it's golf. In my head it was very difficult.

I had a couple, I would say, maybe two wayward shots, two mistakes that I can think of. Other than that, though, it was a good day, and you know, the one mistake on No. 1, my 10th hole of the day, I got up-and-down for par. So it worked out there.

Q. Compared to the last couple of years, pretty soft out there?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, the greens, we got rain. It rained pretty good in a short period of time. But that rain, no sun sticking out, made it a lot softer around the greens. The greens were firm yesterday and then today they were a bit more receptive.

Q. Is it fair game to be able to be aggressive like that in soft conditions and just go at the pins?
BUBBA WATSON: Well, I don't care if it's firm, I'm still going to be aggressive. A few years ago when Jason Day won and beat me by a shot I think, it was really firm that year. We played some good golf. So you can attack. Even though it's firm, you've just got to attack the right way.

I hit driver I think everywhere except the last hole, No. 9. Just trying to have short irons in here. The rough's not too high, so it's a little bit easier than British Open rough. So it was good.

Q. You had really good birdie looks 8 and 9. Could have been a really good round.
BUBBA WATSON: I thought it was a really good round no matter what, even if I had bogeyed them or not. You take that on the first round.

No. 8, it broke pretty well. And then that green is very difficult to read. If you looked at all three of our putts: Mine went a little this way, Matt's went a little that way, and then Graham had no idea because our putts went differently.

They are tricky greens, tricky pin placements on some of the holes, and No. 9 is one of those. But it broke a foot and a half on 8, so it was a tough putt trying to get the speed right and the break right and everything.

Q. The adjustment, coming over here from the British Open, completely different weather, completely different style of golf, how does it suit you?
BUBBA WATSON: We're athletes, so it's pretty simple. Just golf. You know, this is back to American golf. I know we're in Canada, everybody, but I'm part Canadian since I married a Canadian.

It's no big deal. You play golf one way and then you play golf another way. You have firm conditions and you have soft conditions. So we are used to change on a quick note there.

Q. What happened on 10?
BUBBA WATSON: I took away on No. 9 and had a better angle coming in. That's my fairway over there, and came out perfect. Read the putt nicely.

Q. This was vintage Bubba draw for Bubba here?
BUBBA WATSON: I was trying to lay up and I pulled it. It was perfect. It's a good lie, 4-iron, just hooked it in there. Just worked out perfectly, the way I drew it up in my head, it worked out.

Q. We're going to take a look at one more on 3. You got out of position off the tee and went up and over the tree.
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, this one, 120 yards -- well, 119 yards to be exact. I knew it came out perfect. I was telling Teddy, it was perfect as it was in the air. I knew it came out perfect, the right distance.

Q. You like the golf course? Do you feel like you have plenty of room to move it?
BUBBA WATSON: It's a very difficult golf course when the greens get firm. A lot of guys, I'm hitting shorter irons than most guys, so you can score around it, or I can score around it. Today it's a little softer but you know, light rough, firm greens, but light rough and I feel like I can play as long as I can make a couple putts and that's what I did.

Q. Bogey-free 66, you've been building some momentum.
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, we've been working -- I got out of position with my swing over the last, man, probably about a year. You know, who knows why. Maybe because of losing weight. But that's why I wanted to play so many round. That's why I wanted to play six tournaments in a row so I can keep building on it and try to get better for the Playoffs.

Q. I thought the key moment was the par save at 1. You had a tee shot where you had a good angle and didn't hit a good approach but you got it up-and-down from that bunker?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, it's one of those things where it was easy shot from the rough, just a little sand wedge, 118 yards. What I did was in my mind, I was freaked out how delicate that shot is, trying to fly over the bunker and keep it short of the rough over the green. I just freak myself out and hit it fat and I came up short.

To get that up-and-down, obviously these bunkers are in perfect shape, so I knew the bunker shot was good. But to roll the putt in obviously kept me going, even though I 3-putted the next hole. Let's don't talk about that, though.

Q. A lot of guys finished 6-under, but when you play an opening round like that, what kind of confidence does it give you?
BUBBA WATSON: It gives you a lot. Especially starting off early in the morning, you never know, especially the weather the way it was, if you're going to get off to a good start. In the rainy played steady and when the rain went away, I made a couple more birdies. That's what you have to do in a situation like that. But to get off to a good start at a place that I love and I play well at, it's very nice and comforting to know that tomorrow, I do have some good confidence going into tomorrow and the weekend.

Q. The course is playing totally different this time around because of the rain this summer and then going from links golf to this kind of course, what do you have to change in your game?
BUBBA WATSON: It's just different. Now you're talking about flying it to the hole or flying it just short of the hole. Last week was flying way short of the hole and you're getting the ball to bounce up. It's a different mind-set but the numbers are still the same. You're still trying to hit a target number. If you've got 150, you might be landing it 130 last week. This week, you're playing it 145. It's not that big a deal. It's just a different number you're flying to and letting it run a little bit.

Q. Knowing where you stand in the FedExCup points and knowing that the Playoffs are just around the corner, does your mind-set change at all? What do you do at this time of year?
BUBBA WATSON: I added some tournaments. Just trying to move up. Trying to get some good strokes, get some good feels. Try to get back into, as Tiger would say, get some reps. Try to get back in the game of golf.

Truthfully, I got my TOUR card locked up for a few years, so I'm good. But my thing is just trying to get better at the game and I've got a little off. That's why I threw in some more tournaments. This will be six in a row. This is my fourth one and I've got two more to go. So six in a row, try to get reps and try to get better in the game.

Q. We saw something happen with Matt Kuchar, had a medic come over, seemed like he might have been dizzy or not feeling well. Could you explain what you saw out there?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, he was just dizzy. He had been over to mark a putt after he missed it, and got a little light-headed. I wouldn't say dizzy. I would say light-headed. He just came up a little slow. I don't know why. It's a little warm after the rain. Had a rain jacket on. Probably just a little light-headed. And then the travel. He played over there, a lot of energy used last week. Second place is a lot of energy used over that and then flying back over here with the time change, probably just one of those things. Maybe a little dehydrated.

Strong competitor -- I take that back, he did make one bogey down the stretch. Strong competitor, fighting through it and he'll be ready to go tomorrow and the weekend.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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