THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 12, 2022

Bubba Watson

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. Where does that rank in terms of how good that was, all-time rounds for you?

BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, it was really good. It was one of those days you had to trust and you had to be committed to your shots, even if they go wild.

The key for me, though, is making putts. When I can start making some putts, which I did today, that's really the key to any round for me.

Yeah, obviously ball striking, I hit some wayward shots, maybe not because of me but because of the conditions, but I made the putts, and that's really what kept the whole round going all the time.

Q. What were the weirdest yardages that you hit out there, like 250-yard wedge to --

BUBBA WATSON: Well, I just had 150 to the front on 18 right there, and I think we flew it 156, and then when it came back, it went about 151 with the slope. But I flew it 156, and it was a 5-iron to finish right there. It was 183 hole, and I tried to aim at the right side of the green and hit a 5-iron, low cut 5-iron, and it flew 156. And I hit it good. It wasn't like it was -- I thought it might have a birdie look from 20 feet, but --

Q. What do you think you've learned about this course as the years have gone by?

BUBBA WATSON: Oh, my gosh, not much. Truthfully, it comes down to -- it's very simple. You've just got to make putts. For me, it's all about vision. Blind shots are very difficult for me, and this golf course, the designer knew what they were trying to do.

I'm the perfect person that fell into the trap on every hole, because for me, I like to look at certain shots or see certain shots. Number 1 looks like it has no fairway. Number 2 fits my eye on the tee shot, then the second shot is tough.

There's a lot of holes that don't fit my eye. Even though there's a lot of fairway, I just can't see it because of the way the bunkers are lifted up and different things.

Q. Is 15 another one?

BUBBA WATSON: 15 is hard because I don't like to draw it off the tee with a driver, so that makes it difficult. There's another. Number 10, I don't think I -- I rarely hit that fairway. I hit it today because with the wind, I could slice it, and the wind would push it back into the fairway.

Q. How happy were you to make that last putt and then hear the horn?

BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, we let the group behind us hit up too, in the fairway, so we wanted to finish. Who knows what's going to happen tomorrow. I don't know what time they start and what time they finish, but being able to sleep in for the second day in a row is nice.

Q. How hard is it not to get too high or too low emotionally on a day like today?

BUBBA WATSON: That's really key because you're going to run out of energy fast. The last couple holes, I brought a couple of extra sandwiches today, and I started eating to get some energy because the mental part, especially me, wears me down real fast.

Today it's all about the mental grind and trying to stay committed to the shots or the putts even when the wind's blowing. Even the two-footer, right? It's very tough.

Q. When you get a course that's this hard in these conditions, how close does it get to the edge?

BUBBA WATSON: Well, no, the golf course is never to the edge. The balls will never roll on the greens. It's just hard, right? Then when you're looking at the leaderboard thinking about the first wave of guys that didn't even play today -- I mean, a couple guys played a couple holes. Some guys didn't tee off. When you think about that, you're just like, man, if I'd have just had a different tee time, I might have done better.

But I was fighting all day to make the cut, and then you make a couple birdies, couple of par putts, and so then you just stay with it, right? Yeah, you sit back, and you can always think about, man, if I had a different tee time. I was in both wind delays at the British Open at St. Andrews. You're like, man, why does it always happen to me?

Q. How good is it to not make a bogey on a day like today? I'm sure any round is good on a day like today.

BUBBA WATSON: It was funny. The last two holes, I three-putted -- barely hit it on the green on 16. So I three-putted 16. I was trying to get to 4-under so I could make double bogey, double bogey, so I could still be at even. I told my caddie Gabe, man, I need a birdie so I can go double bogey, double bogey.

But put it on the green, and then two-putting 17 and then hitting it in the fairway. To finish with that putt, I was going to make the cut, but obviously I looked up at the board and I saw Justin Thomas went bogey-free for 3-under, so I was trying to go bogey-free for 4-under just to one-up him.

Q. What you said on 16, does that tell you how tough 17 is today?

BUBBA WATSON: It's where my mind is. It's really more -- I wrote a book about it. No, it really is. We watched Straka with us today. He hit it in the water and pulled it. Second one landed in the middle of the green, sucked it all the way back off the green into the water. So he makes a 7, and really he missed by three feet, right? It could have easily stayed on the green and came down where mine was, but it was in the water. Then he sucked it back in the water, which was hard to swallow at the time.

Q. Could you play aggressive at all today, or were you playing defensively most of the day?

BUBBA WATSON: I tried to play aggressive. I mean, to the targets and the places I was trying to hit it, yeah, I was trying to play aggressive. That 5-iron on the last hole, I was trying to be aggressive, but it only went 156.

Q. Bubba, you can hit so many shots; do you feel like, even though you can, this golf course asks for a lot of shots, but since you don't see them as well, that's why you haven't had success here?

BUBBA WATSON: This one reminds me a lot of Hilton Head. Even though you can move the ball and do things, you know, overhanging trees, vision of like bunkers, it just kind of throws me off. So I'm not a guy that aims at a target and then just they can pull the trigger. So I have to see it. I have to visualize my whole shot, and blind shots are difficult for me.

There's a couple of shots I hit pretty well most of the time here, but there's a lot of shots I just get nervous over because I can't really envision it because I can't see the whole landscape of the ground.