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BOB HOPE CLASSIC

January 24, 2010

Bubba Watson

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA

DAVE SENKO: Bubba, thanks for joining us. 69 today. It looks like the six birdies and a bogey, and then you finished doubled at 18. Maybe just talk about your day, and then we'll get some questions.
BUBBA WATSON: Today was like yesterday, just a struggle out there all day. Haven't hit my tee balls good the last two days, but held it together. My mind's still in the right place. We got one more day to go, though.
Overall, at the end of the week, if I was tied for the lead, going into the last day, it's always a great week. So looking forward to the battle tomorrow - with myself, and with the golf course.
That's pretty much it on the day. But where did I -- I birdied number 4? 4. Yeah. I sliced a drive into the rough. Hit a 4-wood, probably only hit it like 280. Hit a 4-wood from, like, 250 to about 30 feet, 2-putted for birdie.
Next hole, I made a bogey, right? Sliced my drive into the rough. Hooked my 9-iron short, right, chipped it over the green, left it about eight inches short. Tapped it in for bogey.
7, I hit a little pitching wedge to about 10 feet, I guess.
10, I hit driver down the middle, hit a little 56 degree from like 113, I think we had, and hit, made about a 12-footer.
12, I hit a drive down the middle, hit a little wedge in there about 10 feet, I guess, up the hill. Made it.
13, I hit driver down the middle, hit the 5-iron to about 40 feet for eagle. Just 2-putted for a birdie there.
16, par-5, oh, sliced driver, hit 5-iron from 212 front, just trying to hit to the front edge of the green. Hit 5-iron there, about the front edge of the green. Chipped it to about a foot, made it.
18, I hit 4-wood, just trying to hit it down the middle, hit it down the middle, played a dumb shot. I tried to cut a ball instead of just playing a draw with a different club, and left it out there. And I knew it wasn't cutting as soon as I hit it because I was trying to baby it. It hit up there high and then bounced all the way down into the water. Hit a good chip to about six feet past, hit a good putt, it didn't go in and made a great one-foot putt for a six.

Q. We talked about, yesterday, your attitude adjustment, and how is that going to come into play tomorrow, first of all, to just totally forget about what happened on 1 and have to sleep on it; second of all, just to go into tomorrow, saying, Hey, I'm in the mix, let's take care of business?
BUBBA WATSON: Well, if you keep bringing it up, I'm not going to forget it.
(Laughter.)
It doesn't faze me. Tomorrow's going to be a tough day no matter if I had the lead, was tied for the lead, or one back, or five back. Because it's Sunday, everybody wants to play good, that's just natural. We're human beings and we're trying to win.
Who knows? Who knows if I'm going to eat bad food tonight. Who knows what's going to happen tomorrow morning when I wake up? Nobody knows. So the unknown is what we love.
So tomorrow's going to be battle between me and the golf course. It's going to be myself, and I'm going to be battling with myself and the golf course. I'm going to be battling with -- and the other people are going to be doing the same battles as I'm doing. And they're going to try to beat me; I'm going to try to beat them. And tomorrow's going to be a fun day. This is what we live for. The more chances I get to win, maybe I'll get one to luckily fall in and win one.

Q. Alex said earlier today he shot 70 and was a little surprised he was still around the lead. Are you kind of surprised this round let you stay around the lead?
BUBBA WATSON: No. 69 is still a good score. Doesn't matter what golf course you're playing, it's hard to play good. The golf courses are playing longer right now. Now everybody is trying to win a golf tournament, so everybody is getting little tighter.
Tomorrow we're going to probably play the ball down. So it's going to be different. Ball is not going to be in hand, so you're not going to be able to tee them up perfectly. Tomorrow, 69 might be a great score; 69 might be a bad score, you never know. But as of right now, anything in the 60s tomorrow, you have a great shot.

Q. The four guys at the top, none of them have won. Three veterans. You all are very worthy of getting that first win. How do you not think about that and what it would mean to you with all the work you've done?
BUBBA WATSON: How do I not think about that? Is that what you said?

Q. Yeah.
BUBBA WATSON: Well, the first hole has bunkers on one side and the other side. And that's the first hazard. Second hole's got bunkers. The fourth hole has water. You got to worry about each hole. You're not worried about the other guys.
The other time I think in Houston a couple years ago, I had the lead by three, and I went out there and shot 72 and got lapped by Adam Scott. I played a great round of golf. Birdied the last hole to shoot 72, and Adam beat me. He went out of the gates at 5-under through 7 that day, and I mean, there's nothing I could do. I could just play my game, and all I got that day was a 72. So tomorrow, hopefully, my number's just lower than the next guy's.

Q. And just to follow-up, do you feel where your game has come, where you seem to be mentally, that you are now as ready as you've ever been to win?
BUBBA WATSON: No, I was ready a long time ago. When I was 12 years old, I won many tournaments.
(Laughter.)
I putted a few 10-footers to win many tournaments.
No, it's just the plan's already laid out for me, the way I believe. And if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. If it doesn't, I'm not going to pout in my corner at my house and be mad at my career.
But right now, we have a chance to win, so we're going to go out there and fight and, hopefully, my fight's better than the next guy's fight.

Q. If you do win, do you have any plans for yourself and how you would celebrate?
BUBBA WATSON: I would shake my competitor's hand and say, you know, Sorry that I beat you.
There's nothing -- I'm not going to change my life because I won a golf tournament. So I'm just going to keep living. But I'm definitely going to get me a Dukes of Hazard car, a replica that I'm definitely going to get if I win a golf tournament, because my wife said I can do that if I win.
So if I win, I'm getting a Dukes of Hazard General Lee.

Q. Obviously, the first four days here you're playing with amateurs. Tomorrow, you it reverts back to a professional golf tournament, I guess in that regard.
BUBBA WATSON: The other day we played with a pro, too.

Q. Oh, that's right.
BUBBA WATSON: It was like a week ago or something.

Q. Yeah, let's see. Back in December.
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah. Exactly.

Q. You mentioned everybody's going to be trying to win a golf tournament. Will it just feel different with two other guys out there with you instead of amateurs?
BUBBA WATSON: No. Hopefully it will play faster. That's pretty much it. I have struggles out there when I'm playing with amateurs. The amateurs are -- I'm trying to loosen them up and let them have fun. That's the name of the game here. Golf is -- we're trying to sell ourselves to sponsors, so we need to make sure that they're happy. And right now this tournament we need to cheer them on when they hit good shots and everything.
But it will just go back to -- I'm still just trying to beat the golf course tomorrow, and hopefully I can do that.
DAVE SENKO: Thanks, Bubba.
BUBBA WATSON: Thanks, guys.

End of FastScripts

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