TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP

June 26, 2021

Bubba Watson

TPC River Highlands

Quick Quotes

Q. Pretty wild day out there. Can you describe how the wind affected your shots and game today?

BUBBA WATSON: You know, the first two days we kind of had the beauty of good weather. When I say good weather, even though the rain was there, the wind wasn't there. This golf course the defense is a lot of wind, and I think the golf course was built for this wind.

So I think tomorrow is the -- a little much this way or that way, but very little. Same wind, same hardness. And that's really the tough part. When you're playing in the afternoon you know the challenge ahead of you. Even though it seems like a birdieable course, when it gets windy like this it's very tough.

The guys in the morning had chance it move up quite a bit and I think a lot of them did. So that's one thing. Obviously we all want to be in the lead and having that struggle or that chance to win instead of coming from the back.

But we knew going into it. When I saw the wind and the weather I knew the next two days were going to be very difficult.

Q. Obviously you're in the lead. You have a co-leader going into Sunday. There are 16 guys either in the lead or within three shots. This golf course has given up a lot of low scores. Does that change the way that you're going to go out tomorrow? Do you have to pretty much just keep blinders on and play your game and not look at leaderboards?

BUBBA WATSON: I mean, I'm going to look at the leaderboard just knowing what I need to do coming down the stretch. If I'm three back I might push something. I might start pushing on No. 12 or whatever it is.

Because you want to run out of holes and be like, Oh, wait, I'm three back. You don't want to play safe. In my stage of my career if I have a chance to win I'm going to go for it. That's the key. I'm not going to worry about third or fourth place. I am going to try to go for it if I can.

But, yeah, I'm not going to change anything. I've played this golf course pretty good over the years, and so my whole thing is just make birdies when you can. And when the weather is the way it was today, I mean, Jason on, what hole was that, No. 12, the par-4? We were pretty close in distance. I hit a low 9-iron draw and he hit a little -- he tried to chip a 6-iron, and I know he's got an injured back right now, but that's what he saw. He saw chipping this little 6-iron, and I hit 9-iron and we both had 40-footers for birdies.

That's the golf course leads you to do. When the wind picks up like this you just got to play steady. Hopefully tomorrow nobody goes really crazy so I have a chance when I hit the back nine.

Q. You've won this tournament three times before. You're playing against really good players who are in contention here. Does part of you feel like this tournament is yours, that this is a tournament that you expect to be here and therefore like on a Sunday, tomorrow, you're going to win it?

BUBBA WATSON: The way you're wording it, I would word it a little different. I expect to play good here. Now, winning it, that's Tiger Woods level. I'm not where near Tiger Woods level. You know what I'm saying? That's a Jack Nicklaus /Tiger Woods saying. No, to play good is one thing. And play good to you guys or the internet or the fans out here, I don't know what ya'll think playing good is, but I think a top 25 is playing good. Right? These guys are really good at golf.

Then you go from there. A top 25 is nice, but then if you move it in, top 15, Top 10, Top 5, that's what you want on the weekend on or Sunday. So tomorrow when I tee off No. 10, hopefully when I get there I have a chance to challenge for the win.