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ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANSMarch 28, 2008Bubba WatsonAVONDALE, LOUISIANA Q. Bubba, obviously something took place on the tenth hole that upset you and some words transpired with you and Steve Elkington. Can you tell us what was going on? BUBBA WATSON: You know, I'm a newcomer out here. He's a veteran, Shigeki is a veteran. I made a bad decision, and I want to apologize everybody in the tournament, everybody in the -- whoever heard it, whoever saw it, especially Steve and Shigeki and their caddies. You know, I don't drink or smoke, but every once in a while I get a little angry, and I said some stuff I probably shouldn't have said. Q. So you met at the scorer's table and everything now is settled between you? The air is clear now? BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, we hugged it out. Men gotta hug it out, you know? Everything is good. You know, he's not mad. He's looking at me like a son basically because I'm a lot younger than him, and he took me aside and said, just look, be stronger in what you're doing and make sure you don't do that. Let's talk about other ways. I apologized to him the best I could, and hopefully he'll see this or hear about it and forgive me even more. But yeah, we're fine. We're not going to fight or anything like that. We're good. Q. Can you tell us just what did happen that was so upsetting? BUBBA WATSON: I heard some movement, and who knows what it was. I was just over the ball, and just me trying to make the cut and trying to play better and not getting the right breaks. I was already mad for the day, and I just took it out on them, and I shouldn't have. Q. Man, you hit some big drives out there today. First I want to ask you about that drive you hit on No. 8. You rolled it up on them dudes on the green. BUBBA WATSON: Oh, yeah, I hit that one good. Yesterday I hit the same shot and tried to kill it and hooked it, and today with it downwind I could just swing easy and get it there. I three-putted, I think, so I was kind of mad about that. But no, I hit a good one there. I hit a good one on 7, as well. Q. You were grinding a little bit, and then there was a little issue out there with Steve Elkington. Walk us through what happened. BUBBA WATSON: I heard some movement, and me being the person I am, being real competitive, got mad at the situation and I shouldn't have and took it out on them, and when it all came down to it, I birdied the hole. You know, afterwards we hugged it out, as I was saying earlier, and we're cool now. But he pulled me aside and wanted to pull me aside there when it happened as talk to me as a veteran and talk to me about how to overcome it and how not to take it out on them. So me being the newcomer, obviously I've got to take the blame for it, and hopefully I apologized enough to everybody and I apologize to the media and the local folks here, and hopefully it's all behind us. Q. You said it was cool, you made your apology and said what happened, happened. It was cool and you hugged it out. You said even Steve was trying to be like a father to you, put his arm around you and say just cool down, but you run hot out there sometimes on the golf course. BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, when you're on the golf course you don't have many friends. Sometimes your caddie and sometimes not. That's really your only friend out there. I went wrong with it. Q. You made the cut, made your apology. What's the goal going into the weekend now? BUBBA WATSON: You know, the course is going to get firmer, I believe, so me hitting it longer and higher, I believe I can hang in there with these greens getting as firm as they are. Q. Well, everybody is going to be a little disappointed there isn't going to be a fight in the parking lot now, but maybe by Sunday you're going to beat somebody up, so all these reporters standing around will get something. BUBBA WATSON: Hopefully I'll beat that trophy out of somebody else's hands. Q. Can you talk about the issues you had out there with Steve? BUBBA WATSON: There was no issue with Steve, no issue with Shigeki. It was just one of those things where I heard something and took it out on them, and I shouldn't have done it. You know, I apologized many times. I apologize again to whoever is watching, whoever is listening. So if it comes up in the media now it's y'all's fault. I apologize to the tournament, to anybody that's involved in this tournament, all the volunteers, all the caddies, the spectators, the kids that came out here. You know, I'm not like Charles Barkley. I'd love to be a role model, I make mistakes, and my mistake was I got angry today. Hopefully I learn from it and move on. Q. This is something that boiled over from yesterday from what we heard. BUBBA WATSON: I don't think so. Maybe. Q. Tell us exactly what you did tell him. BUBBA WATSON: I told him that I love his shoes, love his socks, love his style, and I'm mad that I can't find a style like that. Q. You lost your temper and uttered some profanity; is that accurate? BUBBA WATSON: I can't really remember. I don't know what I said. Q. Is this as mad as you've ever been on the golf course? BUBBA WATSON: It's one of them. I mean, I didn't break a club, so I wasn't that mad. I birdied the hole, too, so it worked. I should be mad more often, I guess. Q. Did your round contribute to this, or was it just you heard something -- BUBBA WATSON: No, I was struggling all day. You know, I hooked an iron on the first hole, hooked my tee shot on the next hole. All day I was just fighting and fighting. I just happened to birdie two holes in a row, and on 10 I had a good shot at making another birdie and I heard some noise and went crazy, I guess. I shouldn't have done it, and who knows why I did it, but I consider myself a good person. You know what, you make mistakes. Everybody in this world makes mistakes. Nobody is perfect. Q. Where did it happen? BUBBA WATSON: Right in there. You couldn't really see it. Q. In the tunnel? BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, in the tunnel, where nobody was. Q. Was it awkward playing after it happened? BUBBA WATSON: No, because I'm fighting my swing, trying to make putts, trying to beat this golf course that's beating everybody. End of FastScripts |
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