ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS

April 22, 2021

Bubba Watson

Scottie Scheffler

TPC Louisiana

Quick Quotes

Q. Bubba, can you talk about what was working today?

BUBBA WATSON: Gosh, what was working today? I had a good partner. You know, the first couple holes with the wind directions was very difficult. He made a great putt on No. -- a tough tee shot where it ended up, but he made a good putt on No. 11 for birdie from just off the green. We just kind of held it together, no bogeys. He putted unbelievable today. I wish I could putt like that. It was a special thing to watch.

So yeah, it was really fun, but the difficulty is around this golf course when the wind picks up from different directions, so that made it -- we'll call it fun.

Q. Tell me about No. 2.

BUBBA WATSON: No. 2, so my partner was out of the hole, so I had to just step up. So no, I pulled my tee shot trying to hit a cut, but at the same time you don't want to cut it too much. My miss is definitely going to be right on that hole if anything, so I was right off the tee. It was a perfect gap in between two trees, it's a perfect 4-iron, just have to cut it and hopefully the wind is doing what I believe it's doing.

I didn't know where it landed. I couldn't see where it landed. I knew it landed on the green but trickled, and the marshal said it lipped out, so it went to just over two feet, and then with my partner out of the hole, he picked up way back there, I stepped up and made that putt.

Q. Scottie, can you talk about the 13th hole? It's so unique with the tree in the middle of the fairway. How do you play that?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I was about to ask you that.

BUBBA WATSON: I birdied that hole. Let me tell you.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I feel like there's a few holes with trees kind of in interesting spots. Like 11 is kind of the same way. I think it's a really fun golf course to play. There's a lot of runoffs around the greens. The greens are very, very firm this year, which makes you have to think a lot, especially when the wind is blowing this much. It was a lot of fun to play.

Q. Scottie, how did you guys become a team?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Bubba asked like eight or nine guys and then they all said no, and he waited for me, and then I waited about four or five days, texted a few guys and no one responded, so I said yes.

BUBBA WATSON: That is pretty much it.

We're doing a Bible study together, young, up-and-coming guy that's a super talent, so I called him early. Gosh, it might have been early January.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, it was pretty early.

BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, you were in Hawai'i. I was back home, so I texted him and he said, I don't know if I'm going to play it. I said, that's not what I said. I asked, yes or no, do you want to play as my partner. He waited a couple days and he texted me when he got back to, I think, Dallas. He said he was getting on a flight, and he said yes.

And then going back to 13, you didn't answer your question.

Yes, it's very tricky. Because there's roots around, too, not just the tree so there's roots around, so you can hit the fairway but be stymied or hurt yourself or chip out. Our partner today, Cantlay, I think he had to hit a little draw around the tree. He hit the middle of the fairway but the tree is in the way. Especially with this wind; when the wind is opposite, the tree is not in play unless you hit it off the tee but normally you're past it. Today is different.

Q. Scottie, everyone who watches Bubba is entertained by the way he plays golf. It's not the traditional way so to speak that you do it on TOUR. Are you equally entertained when you watch him play golf?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I thought -- first of all, when he asked me if I wanted to be partners, I thought we'd have a great time, I thought we'd have a lot of fun. I knew him from the Bible study before and just kind of getting to know each other a little bit.

Watching him play golf is a lot of fun, and I think for alternate-shot tomorrow, I think we're going to make a good team because he's able to hit those shots from the weird spots that I'm probably going to put him in, and I feel like I'm able to do the same. We said yesterday that I'm never going to put him in a place on the golf course that he hasn't seen before. I feel like both of us kind of manage our games pretty well in that sense, and I'm looking forward to teeing it up and playing the rest of the week.