LIV GOLF SINGAPORE

March 13, 2025

Bubba Watson

Ben Campbell

Sentosa Golf Club

RangeGoats GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome Ben Campbell and Bubba Watson, captain of RangeGoats GC. Welcome, guys. Bubba, I'll start with you. You were the winning team captain here in Singapore in 2023, albeit with a different-looking RangeGoats lineup. How does it feel to return to a place where you've had success before as a team, and what's your mindset heading into this year's LIV Golf Singapore event?

BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, our mindset is to win. Lifting that trophy, the only trophy the RangeGoats have had, it was nice. It was nice to have a guy winning the tournament. Makes the team a lot better. So it's up to Ben to do that this week.

You know, it's one of those things where golf is very difficult, and so getting all four guys to play well or well enough to win is very tricky, very tough, especially in weather like this where it just gets hot. It wears you out sometimes, especially if you've had a stressful round.

So we're looking forward to the challenge. I think Ben is excited. I think our team is excited this year, some new guys, so it's been fun, and we've been close this year. We're looking good, but we've just got to get the ball to go in the hole a little bit faster.

Q. Bubba, off the course you've had some time to explore Singapore this week. The RangeGoats had a boat tour in the marina bay. What's some of your impressions of the city?

BUBBA WATSON: It's beautiful. First of all, looking out the windows behind you, all the ships, all the different cargo that's coming through here, this is a mecca when it comes to finance, when it comes to shipping.

When you think about the architects, the buildings, the history of this place and what it's meant to the world, it's pretty special to be here.

We've always talked about my kids as they get older coming to places like this just to experience it and to see it, so it's pretty neat to say that a guy from Bagdad, Florida, has been around the world and been to Singapore a few times now. It's an honor and a privilege to be here and see what goes on around here, not just the golf but the other parts of the community.

Q. Ben, as one of the new players joining LIV Golf this season, coming through Asian Tour and International Series ranks, can you share some of your experiences of LIV Golf so far? How has that transition been for you?

BEN CAMPBELL: Yeah, it's been great. I've been obviously lucky to have a really friendly team and everyone has welcomed me in and just sort of made me feel part of the team from day one. That's obviously been a big help.

I think obviously being a reserve out here last year, I sort of knew what I was in for. But yeah, it's been great to obviously play here in Singapore, not too far away from home at a place where I've played a lot of golf over the years.

Yeah, I'm just enjoying my time out here so far, and obviously feel like the game hasn't quite been where I want it, so hopefully we can turn that around this week.

Q. Ben, you've played much of your career so far on the Asian Tour. You finished second in the Order of Merit last year. You've won twice previously on the International Series. How does that experience prepare you for this Asian leg of the league?

BEN CAMPBELL: Yeah, I think this is probably one of my favorite courses in Asia. I love coming here. It's always in amazing condition. What Bubba said before, it's just an incredible city. You always have good week here. Food is amazing.

I think playing on these surfaces up here has definitely helped. I'm used to the humidity and played a lot in the heat up here.

I think it's always nice when you're on a similar time zone to home and the travel is a lot easier. Yeah, really looking forward to the week.

Q. Bubba, I just wonder when it came to Ben whether it was the Saudi International performance in particular last year that caught your eye or if you'd been monitoring his progress during the International Series? How did you end up signing him?

BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, I got two answers for that. The first one, the easy one, is if you look at his career, he had some hiccups, some injuries -- I guess we'll call it injuries and stuff. He's played well. He played well before his injuries. Then he's played well after that.

When you look at his record on the Asian Tour, it sells itself. You don't have to look very far to see what he's done over the last few years.

Then the real thing for me, though, is personality. Who he is as a person, who he is as a man. I wanted somebody that was fun, that was in on the team, and I wanted a competitor, but I wanted a good guy. I wanted a guy that fit in well with us and what we're about and what we want to do off the course.

That was the first and foremost. His golf is going to take care of itself. He's a good enough player. I thought giving him a shot -- he's still young enough and he's been through some battles, but to give him a shot, I thought it was a no-brainer. Our team was all on board, but his personality is really what sold it. I'm not saying he's a bad golfer. I'm just saying his personality easily fits the Goats.

Q. Ben, just a question for you about working week in and week out with Bubba as captain and how that will help your game.

BEN CAMPBELL: Yeah, it's been great. Obviously we're only a few weeks in now, so I think as the year goes on, it's great being around someone of Bubba's -- who's won as many times as he has.

I think just playing practice rounds, seeing different shots, I feel like our practice rounds, everyone gets on really well. We've had some great team dinners.

I think it's nice -- it can be a lonely sport traveling the world, and I think that's the cool thing that I've enjoyed. I feel like we all get on really well. There's a bit of banter at dinners and things like that, and that's on the practice range, as well.

I think it makes it easy to train, and if everyone is enjoying themselves and having a good time, then it's easy to work a little bit harder and things like that, which I think it's a cool team dynamic.

Q. How does the new lineup with Ben, how would you tackle your game plan for this golf course this week?

BUBBA WATSON: Well, adding Ben, we looked at the schedule, and we looked at the first part of the schedule and saw that the way that Ben plays his game, the courses fit him pretty nicely, and obviously this is one of them. As he said, it's one of his favorite courses. It's always in perfect condition, like he said. Greens are the best I've seen in a long time this week.

It fits his game. I think that the other three, we have to hit more fairways this week. We can hit it far, but we've got to hit it straight.

He's the anchor this week. He's the guy that hits the fairways. No pressure.

He's played well going into this tournament. We can all -- one shot here or there. I think he's top 20 in two of the three?

BEN CAMPBELL: Yeah.

BUBBA WATSON: So he's top 20 in two of the three or top 24, whatever that is. So he's right there. We looked at the schedule. Again, his golf takes care of itself, his personality, but knowing that the first half of the schedule definitely fit him, playing the areas he's played over the last few years.

Strategy, just beat the heat somehow and then ride him and let him keep playing well.

Q. Could you share your thoughts on the introduction of the new pathways for LIV Golfers into some of the majors, and for Bubba, do you see it as a chance for you to add to the two Masters events that you've won?

BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, I think that any chance we have to get into the majors, get all of us playing together again, it's always a good thing.

My thoughts have always been we should just go off of our points list or our money list and have 15 guys from LIV be in all the majors, the top 15 from the year before. That's what I've always said. I've said it since day one.

But this is a start. This is a start in the right direction, that people recognize that LIV is here to stay and that LIV is not going anywhere, and it's only getting better.

The majors are seeing that, and the majors realize for that one week that they have an event, they need us to join in there and play so we can get some media attention but also show how good LIV is and what team sport is all about.

BEN CAMPBELL: I think for me, it's exciting. Obviously I've only played the one major and would love to play more.

These next few weeks are really important, try and finish up the leaderboard and climb the standings. It's exciting. You play well and you're in some of the best tournaments in the world in the majors. I think it's great.

Q. Bubba, can you share your thoughts on the growing YouTube golf scene, seeing a lot of LIV players like Bryson on that track?

BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, I think it's great. Anytime that you can -- social media, YouTube, it's all in the same bucket. But if you can put out videos and do things like that, you're just going to draw younger crowds to the game around the world.

With us playing around the world and bringing the excitement of golf around the world now, it only enhances the game and it gets people to want to be involved in it, to see crazy shots, hitting shots over the house and trying to hole it.

It's different for me. I did those videos when I was a kid. I did those videos when I first started out on social media, and now that I have a family, now that I have a wife of 21 years, it's a little different. I really can't have cameras following me around everywhere.

But yeah, the young guys, yeah, for sure. It's great for them to do that. We still try to do some videos here and there on my account, but Bryson has taken it to a whole new level that I've never even dreamed of. Good on him, because we are here trying to grow the game and get young people involved, and he's doing a great job of it.

BEN CAMPBELL: Yeah, I think carrying on from that, I think especially in places like New Zealand, Australia, since COVID there's a lot of people sort of my age and younger playing golf, and if that means they're watching YouTube and that keeps them playing the game and where he get more people playing the game, I think it's amazing.

I think what LIV has done, as well, there's certain people that really are attracted to the product here, and if they can be attracted to YouTube and we can get more people playing the game, I think that's incredible.

Q. I wanted to get your thoughts, both of you, on the par-5 4th hole. It has the trees there. I don't know if you have to navigate those on your second shot. Can you walk us through your process of playing that hole?

BUBBA WATSON: We have different strategies, I bet. For me, it's very narrow with a 3-wood off the tee. A lot of guys are hitting 3-woods. You'll see that this week unless it's into the wind or something like that, something crazy.

For me, I take a driver over those bunkers and try to cut it. I call it just like an easy cut, dink cut, whatever you want to call it, and hit it out there as far as I can in the fairway, and I just play through those trees. I hit a shot through the trees and try to work it through there if it's in the fairway. So that's how I play it. I try to take the bunkers out of play and hit it down there, and if I have to, if I get really behind a tree and I can't play the shot or it's in the rough, then I just play it like a normal par-5, just chip down the fairway and hit it on the green from there. So I take my chances on the trees.

Q. You haven't hit a tree yet; there's not really low-hanging branches there. So is it fairly easy to navigate?

BUBBA WATSON: I mean, for me maybe. I don't know about you. You can get stymied behind -- there's enough of them. There's 10, 15 trees? Maybe 15? So you can get behind them. I've hit some wayward shots in the water there for sure. For sure I have.

BEN CAMPBELL: Yeah, I've always -- a few times I have hit 3-wood when it's downwind. I always just try and -- I think from memory, it's about 270 meters, so maybe 265 meters, where there's like a gap. As long as I'm sort of short of that. Normally I sort of hit easy driver down there, and I can sort of cut one around. For me it's driver. I take quite an aggressive line there, and I've sort of played that hole a lot here.

As Bubba said, if you end up hitting it too far, there's still holes through the trees, and if worse comes to worst you can lay up and play it as a three-shotter, so I normally hit driver there.

Q. I did want to ask you about the reserve playoff that we had earlier this week. Obviously you were reserve out here last year. Just curious what your thoughts are about that playoff.

BEN CAMPBELL: Yeah, I suppose we didn't have that last year at all. Looked like obviously John played great and got the spot. I suppose the other two guys have had chances for the Iron Heads this year. I think who knows if some of the other teams are going to do it more in the future.

Q. Bubba, you talked about you guys went out to the bay this week. Last week you went out to the Jockey Club. It seems very important for you guys to kind of experience the city as opposed to just coming in and playing golf. Do you think back in the day, maybe in your 20s or any golfer in their 20s, they're so focused on golf that they don't maybe think of outside the ropes, and have you evolved into embracing the entire experience as a professional golfer?

BUBBA WATSON: It's a great question. In my 20s I did a lot of things. I had more energy back then. Me and my wife, we didn't have kids back then, so we did a lot of things. We went out to dinner and sightseeing I guess you would say.

But now it's different. You want to go do things as a team. You do things as a team to kind of just bond and know who we're battling for, trying to win the tournament for each other. We've still got some young guys on the team. Matthew Wolff is pretty young, so we've got to get him out of his shell and get him to experience life and see other parts of the world.

So it's been fun, but yeah, in my 20s it was easier. It was easier to get out of bed and go sightseeing and do things on a day where I could have a day off or practice in the morning and then go in the afternoon.