Interview with Bubba:

Q: What is your favorite part of being on the PGA TOUR?
BUBBA WATSON: Just traveling and having the opportunity to see new golf courses

Q: What aspects of your game do you think needed the most improvement from last season?
BUBBA WATSON: I think my biggest hurdle has always been the mental game. It’s no secret that I’m slightly ADD (ha), so improving that aspect of my game will be the biggest challenge. I’ve been trying to carry myself differently throughout my whole life and I think that will make a difference. Hopefully!

Q: Towards the end of last year you hired a trainer for the first time. What was the motivation behind that?
BUBBA WATSON: Better health.

Q: It looks like you lost quite a bit of weight, (give or take 30 pounds). Did your trainer completely change your diet?
BUBBA WATSON: No, not really. Before I got my trainer I had already started to changing my diet for health reasons. Now my trainer just helps keep me motivated.

Q: What’s a typical breakfast for you on “game day”?
BUBBA WATSON: An English muffin with peanut butter, yogurt and cereal … the healthy cereal that is. No captain crunch.

Q: What’s the furthest drive you’ve ever had?
BUBBA WATSON: 14 hours! Ha-ha, just kidding. I think it was 422 yards.

Q: Where were you?
BUBBA WATSON: We were in Phoenix at Gila River, I think. It was when I was on the Nationwide Tour; they don’t have that event anymore.

Q: The question everyone wants to know, how do you hit the ball so far?
BUBBA WATSON: Really? That’s the question everyone wants to know! Ha-ha! Well, all of my power comes from my swing. I have such a wide takeaway and that’s what helps build club speed.

Q: From what we’ve heard, you are a pretty phenomenal athlete. If you could play a different sport what would it be?
BUBBA WATSON: I love basketball, so definitely basketball.

Q: What are you looking forward to most on TOUR this year?
BUBBA WATSON: Playing good! I’m looking forward to playing better and more consistent, and hopefully getting my first win.

Check out how the PGA show went this year with this video of the Travis Mathew booth!!!!

This year’s PGA Merchandise Show marks the three-year anniversary of a brand of golf apparel that has seen a swift rise in the golf industy: Travis Mathew. It’s a line of clothing designed for golfers by a golfer, Travis Johnson.

Johnson, 29, has been around the game all his life, from growing up in a golfing family in Southern California (and playing a match when he was 5 against Tiger Woods) to a full-ride golf scholarship at UCLA to grinding for a spot on the PGA Tour after graduation.

Though his Tour-chasing days are over, Johnson manages to keep an element of golf in his life through his clothing business. His line includes pieces with unexpected details, like pants with an extra pocket in the back to hold a digital music player or a strip of Velcro sewn in to hold a golf glove.

I had the chance to talk with Johnson before this year’s PGA Show to find out more about his transition from the golf course to clothing design.

Why are you spending more time on golf shirts than with golf clubs these days?

Starting in June 2004, I traveled most of the world chasing that lovely white ball around. While pursuing this life-long dream, I became fascinated with all the variables that went into becoming great at golf. I relished any opportunity to shave a stroke here or there. Along this process, I found myself growing more interested with the aspect of “style” and how it related to a player’s performance. I realized that if I looked better I’d probably feel better, which might help me play a little better.

I needed to improve the quality of my apparel. Already knowing the limitations within golf, I searched outside of the game for my solution but could not find one company that captured the ingredients necessary to meet a player’s needs. Just like the beginning of any other niche company, Travis Mathew was born of demand. This new interest quickly turned into an obsession, and by the summer of 2007, I had built my brand, my first collection, and an infrastructure to support the business while I continued competing. However, this plan didn’t last too long.

By the summer of 2008, I had to go back into the office to help ensure the livelihood of the business. However, I soon found myself completely miserable – missing my travels, missing golf and in general missing being outdoors. So I turned to my investor and told him I needed someone else to come in and run the business. That turned out to be Chris Rosaasen, formerly of Rosaasen Golf Apparel.

Chris started in December 2008 and I began training again to get back into golf shape. I got back on the road but I wasn’t happy. Before Travis Mathew I lived for the road, loved the competition and thrived off of the process. But I realized that I missed being a part of the company that I helped to build.

The fact of the matter is that though waking up in the same bed every morning still freaks me out, I – for the first time in my life – am truly happy.

We know all about the Travis Mathew men’s line. When are you coming out with a ladies line?

I actually have a full women’s collection designed, however we’re just not ready to launch it yet. If I had a dollar for every woman that has asked me to do a women’s line, I’d already be retired and living on the beach somewhere down in Mexico.

I think our women’s line would trump our men’s business. It’s much more fun to design for women than men.

Why is the brand Travis Mathew, not Travis Johnson?

When we started, we had an entirely different company name that was a concept-based brand. But during the trademarking process, our lawyers found a discrepancy with the name in terms of likeness and we had to change the name. It may not sound like a big deal but I was right in the middle of having our first collection sampled and produced for the ’08 PGA Show. So I had two weeks to create a completely different company name and brand that still fit my vision and the design of the collection.

I was going nuts, batting around thousands of ideas for brand names. I actually bought a baby book and started putting different names together that fit within our brand ID – elegant, sexy and rock ’n’ roll. We use those words as our company’s litmus test for everything.

One night during the madness, I went to a bar with a couple of friends. When the bartender looked at my ID card and said, “Travis Matthew, that’s cute,” the girl that I was dating at the time looked at me and said, “That’s it, the name for your company!”

I quickly batted the idea down because I thought it sounded dumb, so she asked just about everyone in the bar that night what name they liked for a cool, hip, young, new golf apparel company. She’d throw in four or five different names that I was leaning toward, and virtually everyone picked Travis Matthew, even the people that didn’t know me. Within a couple days, the name sank in more and more, so I decided to go with it.

So to answer your question, the Mathew comes from my middle name, but just so that I wouldn’t be that guy that named his company after himself, I changed the Mathew to one “t” instead of two.

Polished and stylish.

Not exactly how I would have described Bubba Watson in the past. But after seeing his updated, younger look this weekend at the Bob Hope Classic, I can’t help but think Bubba Watson is looking pretty sharp these days.

Fashionably speaking, he is a whole new man. He finally lost the oversized, pleated pant and replaced them with a flat-front, trimmer pair. He’s stepped away from the baggy, oversized shirt that tended to make him look sloppy and bigger (which he’s not), and traded it in for a better fit, crisp-looking polo. Bubba now looks sophisticated, professional and tailored. It’s a great look for him.

What made all the difference? Travis Mathew, a company that is mentioned a lot in this blog.

Bubba Watson is the second of three new PGA Tour ambassadors for Travis Mathew. Geoff Ogilvy began sporting the TM brand this year after deal with Puma Golf expired at the end of last year.

Travis Mathew CEO Travis Johnson said in an e-mail that the company’s third player will make his debut at Torrey Pines this week.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this company and these stylish players.

Sadlowski – More than the Real Deal!  See his amazing power in this video, or see more on his TM player page!  (just click on TEAM at the top, then click on his profile).

Drew Brees interviewed by ESPN (wearing the Travis Mathew polo “flirt”, color black)

Bubba Watson interviewed on his thoughts of the upcoming 2010 PGA season (wearing a TM t-shirt and TM shorts …).

Bubba Watson doing another trick shot (wearing Travis Mathew)!

Congrats Geoff Ogilvy on his win in Hawaii this past weekend.  He wore the Travis Mathew wear great the entire weekend!!  He was awarded the 1st TM gold buckle (that will be awarded to the winner of every PGA Tour event in 2010)!