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ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS

April 30, 2011

Bubba Watson

AVONDALE, LOUISIANA

JOE CHEMYCZ: We welcome Bubba Watson into the interview room. Bubba with a 2-under par today, tied for the lead going into the final round tomorrow. Maybe just talk a little about the conditions out there today and we'll open it up for some questions.
BUBBA WATSON: Today was tougher. The wind picked up a little bit compared to the last two days. Made it difficult to hit shots, hit good shots, for me. Maybe not for everybody else, but for me it was.
Greens are getting burned out, hopefully they don't lose them by Monday. Some of them are getting pretty brown. They're getting firm. They're hard to putt just because you're not sure what the speeds are going to be if they're burned out or not.
Hard to make a lot of putts for me. Other guys on the board were making some putts, but for me it was a tough day. It was a grind-out day and somehow I ended up with a 2-under.
JOE CHEMYCZ: You were talking with Peter about hitting some shots into the wind and through the wind today.
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, about four or five shots I can think of right off the top of my head. No. 2, I had somewhere around 240 to the hole, dead into the breeze. Hit a 3-iron that flew past the pin and bounced over the green.
Next hole had one about 180. Hit a 7-iron through the wind too far. 11, I hit a 4-wood from 260-something dead into the breeze, hit it over the green. Then on 17 I hit an 8-iron from 160 dead into the breeze. I tried to baby it and it went way too far.

Q. You talked about grinding. Was the putt on 18 being how things are drying out, was it even that one kind of scary?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, because I want to be in the last group. It was a 5-footer or 6-footer whatever it was. Knowing that if I stroke this well, I'm tied for the lead and not one back knowing I'm in the final group. There was a lot of pressure on that for me.
Somehow it went into dead center, and so I'm in the final group, I guess.

Q. Why is it important to be in the final group rather than the second to last group?
BUBBA WATSON: Well, right now it was great because I'm tied for the lead. If it was to get into the final group to be 1 back instead of 2 back, there's always a reason why. You're getting closer to the leader or if you're leading, if you're 1 up. That's why the final group is the best.
It would be nice to win easily. But it would be nice to hole putt on the last hole to win and pick the trophy up right there as you sit there.

Q. How happy were you after having struggles on 18 getting up and down for the last two days and being able to do that?
BUBBA WATSON: Well, the thing that you don't realize is it's not just 18. On some of the other holes that I didn't get up and down is that you don't know the lies.
I had two tough lies on 18 yesterday and I made two good shots, but the lies were so sketchy that I just couldn't hit the shot that I wanted to hit.
So today I had a better opportunity to get it up and down, and somehow it worked out today.

Q. Webb was telling us that this will be the first time he's slept on a lead after three rounds. You've done it a number of times. What kind of an advantage does that give you going into that final group having been there the night before and stuff?
BUBBA WATSON: There's no advantage. He wants to win. I want to win. Just because I've won two, luckily, I want to win my third. When I win my third, I want to win my fourth. There's always pressure you put on yourself and then the outside pressure that everybody else seems to put on you. You have to get used to that.
So for him not winning his first one might be a little tougher for him, but I'm just as nervous as he is. I might have a half a percentage better chance than he does.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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