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ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARD

March 15, 2018

Bubba Watson

Orlando, Florida

Q. Do you feel like this is a continuation of the way you've been playing since Riviera?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, I mean the whole year. Even at -- I don't know what we call it now -- CareerBuilder -- I was going to call it the Bob Hope. We all call it the Bob Hope. Sorry, CareerBuilders -- but it's, I played great there. I putted horrendous, but I think I led the field in the greens in regulation when I missed the cut. So my ball striking is there, it's just making the putts. If we look every week the winner probably makes a few putts. So, yes, it's a continuation, long answer, but really a short answer. Yes.

Q. Did hitting greens become a big target for you?
BUBBA WATSON: It's always a target. Everybody's trying to hit greens. Truthfully, I hit driver a few times today, you're not trying to hit the fairway, it doesn't matter how deep the rough is, you're trying to hit it in a certain area so it's easier to attack the hole. When I say attack the hole I'm talking about just make pars, not trying to scare birdies, I'm just talking about making pars. So there's a few times you hit drivers and who cares if it gets in the fairway or not, you're trying to hit to an angle. Fairway stats, to me, you know, you got to look at the whole thing and ask a person why they did this or why they did that. Toe hook's different, but...

Q. I think there was a misconception that, you know, years ago that maybe you might have not have liked this course, this tournament, but I mean just talk about what you do like about it and --
BUBBA WATSON: That's a terrible question to ask me because that makes me look like I'm a bad person.

Q. Oh, no, no, I'm just saying there's a misconception.
BUBBA WATSON: I don't know who -- you're the only one misconception, I guess, because I've been a member here and I'm still a member here. And Arnold Palmer's, he's a pretty good guy, you know? I loved him to death, he inspired me. So I don't see that -- I think you're coming at me the wrong way, which I don't appreciate, I'm sorry, but, yes, I love it here. I'm a member here, like I said. When I play bad golf, yeah, nobody likes a golf course when you play bad golf, but, no, I love it here.

Q. How much weight do you have on yourself now as compared to this time last year and has it affected the way you play?
BUBBA WATSON: Well, yeah, I didn't have the energy, I couldn't hit the balls as far as I wanted to or the numbers that I thought. And I didn't have the energy with a lot of that stuff going on. So, yeah, it affected the way I played for sure.

Q. How much more do you think you weigh now than last year at this time?
BUBBA WATSON: Well I know. I definitely weigh more. I need to -- I truly want to get about five more pounds and I want to get five more pounds of muscle is what I'm looking for and trying to get to.

Q. We all have five pounds we could give you, but not necessarily muscle.
BUBBA WATSON: That's why I worded it that way.

Q. As you work your way toward Augusta is there a single shot out there you find most challenging for you through the years?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, any putt. That's with everybody. Everybody wants to putt good. No, there's no shot that's challenging, it's the pressure. It's dealing with the pressure. Everybody on this range, everybody playing golf right now -- I worded it that way, everybody playing golf and on the range hitting balls -- can hit the shots. We're all capable of hitting the shots, that's why we're in the field. So it comes down to doing it under pressure and getting the right thought. You're going to make mistakes but how do you deal with that. Like Justin Rose today, he dealt with it perfectly, right? He went from -- we were joking -- last place to first place. So it's how do you deal with it. And he showed so much courage and that's what we all have to do when we're, whether we don't hit a shot or like a shot or a course, I guess.

Q. You said that you don't eat sugar last year at the Match Play. Are still not eating sugar?
BUBBA WATSON: I said what? I don't eat sugar?

Q. Yeah, you said that.
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, no, I don't eat handfuls of candy or anything like that, no. A banana, an apple, if that has sugar, that's different.

Q. Someone said last week that it's harder to play directly in front of a group that has Tiger in it than anywhere else, yet you three all showed, you played well, so is that a misconception or was it at all challenging at any time today?
BUBBA WATSON: Again, I don't think it's a very fair question. Because I was -- you focus on your round, that's what I did today. There's people everywhere. Doesn't matter if it's Tiger or anything, people are coming out here to support the tournament, support the players, so there was nothing today that I saw or felt or anything. Just the bogeys I felt, but birdies I loved.

Q. When you win early in the season like you did, does that set you up or traditionally do you carry that over?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, it just proves to the rest of the year just have a blast. Bogey, you know, whatever. So, yeah, our whole goal, every golfer here has a goal of winning and then after you win, we have a goal of winning again. So you just keep going forward and trying to win and keep the momentum going and hopefully a couple bounces or chip-ins or putts go your way and you can challenge again on a Sunday.

Q. What's it like going back to Augusta loaded with confidence?
BUBBA WATSON: I always have confidence there. We watch Fred Couples, every year his name somehow pops on that leaderboard. It's in perfect shape, you know what to expect, the holes, a lot of the holes are shaped the way I like it. If you leave it in the right spot, you can putt. So I always have confidence going there, I always look forward to it, but, yeah, obviously I was there last week checking it out with some buddies and I look forward to it every year, now that I know that I'm in it every year.

Q. And it's an even year.
BUBBA WATSON: I guess, yeah. The golf TOUR, we play all year round now, we start a year before the year and so I don't know what year we're in.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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