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FBR OPEN

February 2, 2007

Bubba Watson

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

JOE CHEMYCZ: We welcome Bubba Watson in, 4-under par 67 and 5-under yesterday. Bubba, just talk about your first 36 out here and then we'll let them ask you some questions.
BUBBA WATSON: You know, it's been a struggle with the driver. I hit four fairways yesterday. I haven't totaled up what I did today, but four yesterday, just hit my irons really well, and I'm staying focused. When I hit a bad shot, I'm still positive, or trying to be, just looking forward to the next one and trying to do it better. It's worked out for two days even though I've hit my driver horrible.
I putted really well. The greens are so smooth here just made a lot of key putts.

Q. You've been known as the guy who just can hit the ball for miles. How much have the other parts of your game the last couple years to try and make more of a complete game?
BUBBA WATSON: You know, I'm always trying to work on my putting because everybody struggles with putting sometimes. Putting is the key to every golf tournament. The best putter is usually Top 10, Top 5, probably going to win, and Tiger is pretty good at putting, so he usually does pretty good.
No, my mental focus, that's what I want to be good at. I've talked to some veteran players out here and try to see how they focus and what they work on and what they try to think about. My physical game, I don't believe there's anything I need to really work on. You're going to have bad days, you're going to have good days. But if your mind and your mental game is in the right spot, then a bad shot is not going to affect you as much as it would if you're not thinking properly.
So far this week and last week I stayed focused, and it's really paid off in the end, playing great last weekend. It helped out. And so far this week hitting a lot of bad shots off the tee.

Q. What is happening with the tee shots?
BUBBA WATSON: They're just everywhere. You know, I try to cut them, they don't cut. I try to draw them, they cut. They're everywhere.

Q. Is this your first FBR?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, this is the first time.

Q. What's your impression so far?
BUBBA WATSON: It's been fun. You know, I like desert golf because the weather is normally good out here. But the last few days haven't been that good.
No, it's fun. The atmosphere is really good. I mean, there's so many people, so many people cheering. You can hear holes over that people are cheering. It's just a fun place to be. This is the only time we get like a football game to us. We get the yelling and stuff. It's fun.
I mean, there hasn't been any bad things yet.

Q. Give it a couple more days.
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, exactly, tomorrow is a big test.

Q. Will you spend a lot of time working on the driver today or not?
BUBBA WATSON: I'll probably hit five shots, just try to see if I can get it going. If I'm swinging at it bad, I don't want to keep swinging bad. If I start swinging good I want to stop quick so I can save them.

Q. J.B. Holmes mentioned yesterday that this course sets up for the long hitters because the trouble is kind of beyond 315 to 320 -- well, the trouble is in front of 315 to 320 and then kind of widens out when you get out there. Do you find maybe this course can set up for you real well?
BUBBA WATSON: I mean, it can, yes. It obviously can. Some of the key holes out here are 11 and 15, and me being left-handed and hitting it long, you run out of room real quick because that water pokes its head in every once in a while. So 15 and 11 are real tough tee shots for me. Today I got lucky on 15 and I hit it so bad that it just didn't go in the water. But 11 I'm aiming down the rough just trying to keep it in the fairway, and today I did. There's a lot of good holes out there that we can fly a lot of the trouble, but some of the key holes coming down the stretch are hard for me.

Q. Are you still hitting driver on every hole that you can?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, I hit driver -- any time it's not a par 3 I try to hit driver. I try to work that out.

Q. On 17?
BUBBA WATSON: 17 -- I don't carry a 3-wood, so I hit a driver. I try to aim it at the far right and just cut it off the bunkers, and today about ten feet to the right of where I wanted to be and got up-and-down for birdie, there. I just kind of dink it.

Q. Punch driver?
BUBBA WATSON: That's what it basically is.

Q. There's talk about new blood for the team competitions, Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup. Do you look at that at all and think that's something you'd like to do?
BUBBA WATSON: I'd love to do it. I'd love to be there. You know, all the media, you guys, they say that -- at one point everybody was a rookie playing in the Ryder Cup. Everybody was a rookie playing in the Presidents Cup. There had to be a first time. So if new guys come in there, they're eager to do it. They want to be there because it's their first time. Now, some of the bigger names, they keep -- every year. You know, the Ryder Cup, the European team has a break, then we have The Presidents Cup. So the superstars have to play every year. They have to jump into a team competition. If it was just every other year they could get pumped up for it like the European Tour does. That's just me on my take of it.

Q. Do you think it would be a good idea to have a mass transfusion of guys like you and maybe Charley?
BUBBA WATSON: Oh, I'd love to be there. The young guys are eager to be there. They want to be there. The older guys want to be there, too, the veterans. But it's just every year, the Top 10 in the world on our side are going to play in the Presidents, they're going to play in the Ryder Cup. They're never going to have a break. If you let them have a year off, they're going to get pumped up in two years, but every year having to do a team competition, they don't have time to think about how excited they are to beat another team. Every year it's just kind of let me play one year and then somebody can sit out, I guess.
JOE CHEMYCZ: Bubba, thank you.

End of FastScripts

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