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ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS

April 28, 2011

Bubba Watson

AVONDALE, LOUISIANA

DOUG MILNE: Bubba Watson, great playing today. 6-under 66. Off to a bit of a snag on the first hole, but you obviously rebounded. Just a few comments on the round today?
BUBBA WATSON: I told my caddie it was going to be rough. Took two weeks off after Augusta. I just started working out again about three days ago, so my body's just not where it needs to be right now.
I told him I couldn't feel my tee shot on the first hole. My arms just -- I just swung. I couldn't feel the ball hit the club face. Just a little out of it. Rope hooked it -- or not really rope hooked it, just pulled it and then plugged it into the bunker and made a quick bogey. Did the same thing on the second tee shot.
Duffed it out of the bunker on 2, and then hit a 52-degree from 149 to about a foot. So I made a quick birdie somehow after all the bad shots, and then I played solid the rest of the way. Somehow it got me fired up, and I made some putts.
DOUG MILNE: You mentioned out there that this course doesn't typically suit your game very well. Obviously, you made a comment that it did today.
BUBBA WATSON: Today it did. I've finished fifth here before. Made the cut a few times here. Just didn't get anything going. The way the course is it just doesn't fit my eye the way it is. It's a great golf course, a great layout, for me it's just not one that I want to play every day.
Today it just worked out. I hit my driver really well. I've been hitting it good all year, but I made some putts and hit some good iron shots and somehow came out 6-under.
DOUG MILNE: Obviously, life in the past year has changed a lot for you as far as your popularity with your two wins, one last year at Hartford and the one this year in San Diego. Obviously the requests of your time and so forth have dramatically increased, and you typically turn and run when you see me coming these days and so forth. Has that impacted your play at all?
BUBBA WATSON: Not my play so much. But the honest truth is I wasn't in this field till some time last week. I was in the field and about a month ago I backed out because I had so much stuff going on.
I hadn't had time to breathe with my dad passing and me winning, the Ryder Cup, trying to be a good son to my mom, you know, worrying about playing golf, trying to be a good husband to my wife. You know, all these things going on and all these people wanting to speak to me now because somehow I'm in the top 20 in the world. So I needed time off.
It was hard for me to come here this week just because I wanted to get my life in the right place. I don't want to be just playing golf to play golf. I want to play golf because I miss it and I love it. So I just needed some time away.
But they talked me into coming so I'm here. My mom really wanted me to come. My mom always comes to this golf tournament, so when my mom says she wants to come, I'm here. And somehow I shot 6-under today.
So it's been a struggle for the last year just to get my life where I want it to be. On the outside it looks like it's great, but you know there are always struggles and stuff that you want to do. But it's going in the right direction right now.

Q. Talk about the conditions a little bit. This morning it was a north wind. I think it changed a little bit as the afternoon went on. How did you find it out there? What holes played particularly easy and more difficult than you thought?
BUBBA WATSON: None play easy. The ones that play difficult are into the wind holes, obviously, the ones that are into the wind.
I made the turn. 10 is a little into the wind. 11 is a crosswind but downwind, so it makes it a little easier. Makes it where everybody can get there. 12 is the same way.
Then you switch and put the wind into us, so those holes start getting tougher. What is it, 13? 14 is the par-3. I tried to hit a bullet 4-iron today, barely got it to the front. The guys I played with hit some kind of woods in there. 5-wood or 3-wood or something, I'm not sure.
So those holes get tough. Any time it's into the wind it's a tougher hole, makes the whole tougher. Downwind obviously makes it easier.

Q. Bubba, I actually saw you go off on number 10. You just really hit it good. Was that typical of your driving today?
BUBBA WATSON: I guess. I missed the first two fairways. So I guess the first two holes weren't very good, but then it came around.

Q. Played a fade?
BUBBA WATSON: I played a little fade, but I was just trying to get it on the fairway. That wasn't a hard shot. That was just guide it to the fairway somehow.

Q. On your second shot on 11, did you play it over or around the cypress tree that's in front of the green there?
BUBBA WATSON: Hitting a 6-iron, that tree's not really in play. It's going to go over it. So I went right over the top of it with just a straight ball. I can actually hit one straight every once in a while (laughing).

Q. Was your second shot on 13 indicative of the wind?
BUBBA WATSON: What's 13? Oh, another thing I did. I don't know why, but I did it. I put a new wedge in this morning.
I got it yesterday. I landed yesterday about mid-day, and I went to the trailer and asked them to build me a new 64-degree lob wedge. So I put it in this morning without knowing how it was going to react.
I thought I hit it good, but 64-degrees came up a little shorter than normal. So I thought I hit a good shot there, but it's just a new wedge that I'm not quite used to yet.

Q. Was it the tournament officials who swayed you or your mom had the deciding vote about coming here?
BUBBA WATSON: Well, I have the deciding vote, but mom likes this tournament and she likes coming here. After talking to my family and stuff, I just felt like I should come here.

Q. Talk about the third shot on 18. You're off to the left. You tried to hit that little low runner, I guess, in there. Did you think flop shot or did you want to hit that shot all along and get it on the green and trickle on?
BUBBA WATSON: No, my chip shot, my lie is into the grain. Where I'm landing the ball is into the grain. So trying to flop it into the grain is really not an option, unless it's something you have -- like if there was a bunker in my way, then you'd have to.
No, I just tried to bounce it. But when you bounce it like that and try to skip it in there, you're landing into the grain. The grain is so severe out here around the edges of the greens that you have to hit it harder.
The last thing I wanted to do was make a 6 on the last hole. I just wanted to make my 5 and get out of there. Once I saw where that shot was, I wanted to make a 5 and get out of there.

Q. What did you do most of the time when you're off between the Masters and here? Did you play any golf?
BUBBA WATSON: I started playing golf the last three or four days with some buddies and my wife. For the first week and a half just goofed around, jet skied, played on the lake. As much goofing around as possible.
Then my wife is like you need to start playing golf if you're going to play again, and I was like, yeah, you're right. So the last four days I just played 18 holes each day and showed up here.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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