CROMWELL, Conn. (AP)
Bubba Watson really wanted to play well at the Travelers Championship to impress U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin.
He did.
Watson overcame a six-stroke deficit Sunday to force a playoff with Pavin and Scott Verplank, then beat Verplank with a par on the second playoff hole.
Watson, the long-hitting left-hander from the Florida Panhandle, closed with a 4-under 66 to match Verplank (64) and Pavin (66) at 14 under. Pavin dropped out on the first extra hole.
After making a 3-footer on the par-3 16th to win, Watson hugged wife Angie and began crying. He said he was so nervous, he could not feel his arms on the final putt.
“I’m a very emotional guy,” he said. “I cry all the time. When I go to church on Sunday, I cry at church. I couldn’t get the ‘Yes’ out of ‘I do’ at my wedding. The pastor said, ‘You got to say it. You can’t just nod. You can’t nod.’
“Everybody has issues. My family had some issues. My dad is battling cancer. My wife last year thought she had a tumor in her brain. We got lucky with that one, and now, we’re battling with my dad. It’s emotional.”
It was largest comeback on the tour since Padraig Harrington also came from six back to win the 2007 British Open.
(Read more at http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2000027,00.html)
Jun. 27, 2010
MORE TRANSCRIPTS: Travelers Championship transcript archive
DOUG MILNE: Okay. We’d like to welcome the winner of the 2010 Travelers Championship, Bubba Watson. I know that’s gotta sound good. It was quite a week. I’m sure starting off today you didn’t imagine that you would be sitting in this chair right here. But you did. Went a little bit of extra holes. You got the job done. You picked up five FedExCup points moving you to eighth in the ranking. So just some comments on the day overall and then we’ll take a few questions.
BUBBA WATSON: You know, at the beginning of the day I was six back, shooting 4-under. I think I shot 4-under. I shot 4-under. There’s no way that wins. You know, to be realistic, we don’t think that’s going to have a chance to win. If somebody would have told me that at the beginning of the day if I shot 4-under, I would’ve thought I would come in Top 5 or something.
For me getting in the playoff after shooting 4-under was just unreal and then to actually somehow make that par putt to win was unreal.
But today was a good day. I wasn’t nervous the front nine or the Back 9 till the last few holes because I thought that a few under wasn’t going to have a chance to win, but somehow I scraped it around, and 4-under did have a chance to win and ended up winning.
For us three guys to be in the playoff, I mean we weren’t one or two starting the day, so for us three guys to be in the playoffs was weird. There was no way to expect that. There was no way you could write it like that.
DOUG MILNE: Okay. We’ll go ahead and open it up for some questions.
Q. Bubba, can you talk about 17 and what happened there and how you were able to recover?
BUBBA WATSON: You know, it’s a bunker shot. We joked about it walking down 18 after I did it is that they tell you in a bunker, everybody tells you in a bunker you gotta hit ball first. Don’t hit sand first. I hit the top of the ball, hit ball first, but it didn’t work out.
You know, it’s just one of those things, you know. I guess you can’t say I choked because I came back and birdied the next hole and now I’m the champion. But you know, I was nervous. I tried to hit a pitching wedge 157 out of a fairway bunker over water to win a golf tournament. And I didn’t do it. I hit it about 73 yards or something, came up short. But.
You know what, what I was thinking was let’s drop the ball, let’s make a bogey, we could still birdie and win. Then it came up short.
I didn’t get mad. One thing I didn’t do, I didn’t get mad at that time. I just remember thinking to myself, and my caddie said, too, we chip this in, we make bogey. It was a terrible lie with chip and came out, went to about a foot and I was like double. Now we’re 13, we’re one back. Let’s birdie the last.
So you know what, I never once put my shoulders down and pouted after that shot, but somehow I just kept going.
Q. Talk about the drive there. I think that went 396.
BUBBA WATSON: Boy, that cart path helped out a lot. You know, I hit it really well. It was more downwind in the playoff. Matt Jones, he hit it past the cart path. We saw it going past the cart path from the tee. Then I hit a good one. We thought it was going to be a short iron, 100 yards or so just give or take, and then Matt saw it hit the cart path. I didn’t even look. I picked my tee up and started walking, just put my head down trying to grind out another birdie, and Matt said it hit the cart path and bounced straight up in the air. So we knew it had to be pretty far down there. So I was just inside 50 yards, and I was like, my best chance for birdie on this hole is right now. Somehow I walked away with a birdie.
Q. Bubba, talk about how nervous you were when you thought you had a chance to win.
BUBBA WATSON: I was nervous.
Q. Compare that to this.
BUBBA WATSON: I was just as nervous. It was a bunker shot on 17. If I make par there and then hit that drive, I can walk away without having to play extra holes.
You get nervous. You want to do something so good, you want to win, you got — people have different reasons why they want to win. You know, I wanted to impress Corey Pavin so I could make the Ryder Cup, but that’s a whole different story. Corey, if you’re listening –
But you know, I was nervous, just like Bob Hope, you know; Tampa I was nervous. I shot, what, 4-under at Tampa, came in third, just gotta play a little bit better. But I played good on Sunday on a tough golf course. So the nerves are there. It just happened — even with my mistakes I stayed there and my caddie kept chirping in my ear, you’re still in this, you’re still in this. So my nerves were there. Just like I said earlier, that putt that I made for par to win, I don’t remember taking that putter back. I just remember that one arm went one way and the other arm went the other way and somehow it went straight in the hole.
Q. You called your shot in the playoff the shot of a lifetime. If so, how hard was it to regroup if it’s not a win?
BUBBA WATSON: First of all, my caddie, and me — you hear a lot of people talk about it, you always gotta expect the unexpected.
So when I was over there, I was already thinking what we’re going to do on 16 while he was putting. I was thinking about what club we’re going to hit, which way the wind is going, the pin’s tucked.
I was just thinking everything on the next hole because I knew I was going to make my putt, hopefully. I was an inch away. All I thought about was what we’re going to do on the next hole. I never thought about if he misses, I win right here. I just thought about what I was going to do on the next hole. So I didn’t really think about what he did.
Q. Bubba, can you talk about your emotions? It was very visible out there after you made that putt on 16.
BUBBA WATSON: I’m a very emotional guy. I cry all the time. When I go to church on Sundays, I’m crying at church. I couldn’t get the “yes” or the “I do” out on my wedding day. And the pastor said, you gotta say it. You can’t just nod.
So you know, and just all the — everybody has issues, but you know, our family had some issues, and my dad’s battling cancer; and my wife, we had a scare, we thought she had a tumor in her brain. We got lucky with that one, and now we’re battling with my dad. So it’s emotional.
You know, my dad taught me everything I know. It’s not very much, but that’s all I know. He would agree with that.
You know, I’ve never had a lesson. My dad, he took me to the golf course when I was six years old and just told me he was going to be in the woods looking for his ball, so he just told me to take this 9-iron and beat it down the fairway. And now look at me after beating a 9-iron on the fairway coming from Bagdad, Florida, I never dreamed this.
Q. When you finished second at the events you have, did you ever have any doubts that you would one day be sitting in the trophy room or did you really believe it would happen?
BUBBA WATSON: Truthfully, I never doubt myself. I think I have the ability, maybe just not a strong enough mind, to keep me going, because I’m emotional.
But you know, like I say all the time, I’m not worried about winning. I’m a Christian first, you know, and golf just happens to be how I can support my family. The game’s given me a lot, lets me support my mom and dad, lets me support the junior tournaments that I put on that I have next week I gotta go down to and do another speech.
But you know, it’s something I get to do for a living, but I don’t ever question why I don’t win. I don’t ever question — I don’t ever envy anybody else.
You know, I did a couple years ago, and it was wrong for me to do that, and you know, I just lucked up and won today. You know, I was just blessed that I won today. So no, I don’t ever think I deserve a win. You never deserve anything. If it’s in the will, it’s in the will.
Q. You mentioned a couple years ago you might have envied somebody. Is there something that changed your outlook or something you can point to?
BUBBA WATSON: Just being a better Christian. You know, going the wrong path. When you want to live your life one way and not doing what — you say one thing, but you don’t do it.
And thinking that — thinking that I was good enough to win. And if it’s not in the books, it’s not in the books. You know, I could go in second place for the rest of my life and never win, but that’s not a reason for me to pout. Sometimes the media puts pressure on you — I don’t know if y’all know that.
But you know, that’s the way I — and that’s my problem. When I first got out here, my problem was why can’t I win, why can’t I do this. My caddie stayed with me for four years even though I kept being mad and pissy on the golf course.
Q. You gave us some shots to remember out there today obviously, but I’m just kind of curious, he’s already missed his putt and he’s bogeyed, how long does three feet look at that point?
BUBBA WATSON: I couldn’t take a breath. The reason — we’ve already figured out what we’re going to do. We’re going to hit it dead straight up the hill, doesn’t break. And then he missed it, and I was like, now what do I do? Are we still at the break? What do I do? My head’s just going a thousand miles an hour.
When I bent down to get behind it to act like I was lining it up, I was trying to breathe. And the sad thing is is my trainer, Fish, Andrew Fisher, who travels with me everywhere I go, when we’re working out, he says, you gotta breathe. You have to breathe. Breathing is part of it. This is going to help you in golf. You’re going to be stronger, you’re going to be this. And all I could think about was, man, how does he tell me to breathe? How am I supposed to be breathing right now? And my heart was pounding.
And again, all I remember is I’m supposed to rock this way and rock that way and the putt hopefully goes in. And it went in. That’s the dead-honest truth. I couldn’t feel my arms, I was so nervous.
Q. Did it surprise you the different players in this playoff, the big hitters, different forms, styles, big hitter yourself?
BUBBA WATSON: You know what, it’s funny that starting the day there’s no way you thought us three — a guy who teed off an hour before me, us three being in the playoffs, you know.
But if you look at Corey, me and Corey are just alike, except he’s won 15 times and he’s Ryder Cup captain. But we’re just alike. He shapes the ball more than anybody, and I shape the ball more than anybody, just I’m younger, so I hit it a little bit farther than he does. That’s it. Love you, Corey.
No, it’s just — and Verplank is more just a steady, putts it really well, gonna get up-and-down, just going to be steady, right down the middle, just going to hit the greens, gonna hit the fairways. And Corey likes to shape the ball. That’s how I like to do it. We just do it at different club head speeds, I guess.
So yeah, it was three different players, but all great players and then me.
Q. Have you heard from your cohorts from home yet?
BUBBA WATSON: I’m not allowed to look at my phone right now since we’re in a meeting, or not a meeting, official business right now.
My phone has been going off right now as we speak, and I want to check it so bad, but I can’t.
Q. (Indiscernible)?
BUBBA WATSON: If I had to say, I’d say yes.
DOUG MILNE: Last thing.
BUBBA WATSON: People I don’t even know are calling me right now. IRS. (Laughs).
DOUG MILNE: If you would just run us through your birdies real quick and give us some clubs and yards.
BUBBA WATSON: Which hole are we at? First hole of the day?
DOUG MILNE: Yeah.
BUBBA WATSON: I birdied 3. I hit driver. I hit lob wedge, we had 99 yards, I think, 99 yards and I hit it to about a foot, made that putt.
I birdied 6 — oh, 6, a slice driver, had to chip out of the tall hay, so I had 208 hole. Hit 7-iron to eight feet and made the putt.
And then 11, I made a bogey. I was so mad about that hole. I hit 52-degree, pin high, about 40 feet, 30 feet, three-putted, hit a good putt, missed it, like a 5-footer.
I birdied 12 and 13 every day of the tournament. So 12, I was kind of keeping it on top of the hill, so I hit this big slice, started at the houses and sliced it back to the center of the fairway. Had a pitching wedge in there from 131 playing 128 or something. So I hit a little pitching wedge in there to about 10 feet and made it up the hill.
13, I hit driver, aimed it over the water, sliced it back to the bunkers. It’s kind of weird, but that’s what I do. Then I hit 4-iron out of the first cut there, just to the back bunker, hit the good bunker shot, and it lipped out to about a foot, made it for birdie.
What’s 15? 15, the short hole. I hit 4-wood just off the side of the green. Me and my caddie call it my famous chip shot. So I hit this little bump-and-run with a 63-degree into the hill to about eight feet and made it. Then hit 9-iron on the par-3 to about 12 feet past, made that one, a little breaker there.
Then my famous 17, I hit 3-iron off the tee into the bunker, hit a top of the wedge into the water, dropped it, hit lob wedge and spun it off the green, chipped the lob wedge about a foot, made it for six.
Then 18, my favorite cart path, I hit it down there about 50 yards short of the hole, chipped it to about six feet, seven feet and then made it force a playoff.
Q. What did you hit in the playoff?
BUBBA WATSON: Driver, and then I had 125, and I hit 56-degree about an inch.
16, we changed everything we was going to do after he hit his shot, pulled it a little bit. But I hit 9-iron. I just chipped the 9-iron. Trying to hit it in the fat of the green and hopefully par wins it.
Q. Are you playing the CVS?
BUBBA WATSON: Yes. I’m there tonight sometime.
Q. Who are you paired with?
BUBBA WATSON: My partner? Camilo Villegas, because we’re defending champions. We won two years ago, and then the U.S. Open rained out, so we had to finish on Monday. So there’s two defending champions this year.
DOUG MILNE: All right. Bubba, congratulations.
BUBBA WATSON: Thank you very much. Thanks, guys.
1. You Probably Need More Loft
My wife, Angie, is a good athlete who played pro basketball with the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting. When she started playing golf seriously, six years ago, she used a driver with 9 degrees of loft and could carry the ball about 170 yards. Just before she played in the Bob Hope Classic pro-am earlier this year (a fifth-anniversary gift from me), she switched to a driver with 13 degrees. She instantly increased her carry distance to 215 yards with the same amount of roll she had before. Angie isn’t much different from most male amateurs in that the quickest shortcut to more distance is getting a driver with more loft. And don’t stop there; get a light, properly fitted shaft, too. You should use every bit of technology available before taking the leap of overhauling your swing. A custom-fit driver can easily give you 20 yards overnight; changing your swing can take months, or longer.
2. Utilize Your Best Physical Trait
Long hitters are long for different reasons. J.B. Holmes has a thick, strong, corn-fed kind of build. He’s very powerful from the elbows down, with strong, fast hands. Dustin Johnson is sort of skinny, with tremendous speed in his hips and torso. Me, I’m tall with a wide arc and long swing. People have different physical assets. It might be strong thighs, broad shoulders, a strong core, whatever. Find your strong point physically, and take advantage of it. And be careful that an instructor doesn’t try to build your swing around a part of you that isn’t your strongest point.
3. Try A Shorter Shaft
Twice I’ve been offered a spot in the Re/Max World Long Drive Championship, and both times I turned it down. It was nice to be invited, but I thought altering my swing specifically to get more distance for that one event might wreck my game. But I did toy with the idea, and even had Ping build me a driver with 5.5 degrees of loft and an extra-long, 48-inch shaft. The longer shaft, which many people assume is an automatic trick to generating more clubhead speed, didn’t work at all. It threw my timing off, and I didn’t hit the ball much farther even when I nailed it. I did much better with my standard 44½-inch driver, simply swinging a little harder.
Trying a longer shaft is a popular suggestion these days, but most players should, if anything, try a shaft half an inch shorter than what’s in their driver. (The average, off-the-rack driver shaft today is 45½ inches.) Tiger Woods at his longest used a relatively short 43½-inch driver, with a steel shaft to boot. You’ll find it easier to hit the sweet spot with a shorter shaft, and you can go after tee shots without losing much control.
4. Learn To Hit A Draw
learn to draw the ball If you slice, you’re not paying as high a price as players used to with the older equipment. That’s because modern drivers don’t spin the ball as much, and the ball doesn’t spin as much, either. But the lesser penalty for a slice has lulled a lot of amateurs to sleep. The best way to really boom the ball out there is to swing from the inside and turn it over. You’ll compress the ball more, and the shot will bore through the wind better. And if you find the right driver, you’ll carry the ball farther with a draw than you would with a fade — another result of modern equipment.
5. Accept Days When You Don’t Have It
I started the last day of Bay Hill in 2008 in a five-way tie for the lead. For the first 10 holes, I hooked almost every shot, even when I consciously tried to hit a big fade. I was hitting the ball so far off line it cost me not only accuracy but distance. I fought that darned hook the entire time, and after a while it was too late to recover. I finished tied for eighth. If I had it to do over, I would’ve just accepted my natural ball flight that day instead of wrestling with it. There are times when you’ll wake up with a certain ball flight, or you just don’t feel as strong or flexible as you normally do. Roll with it. That’s what separates great players from the rest of the field.
6. Tee Off Like You Just Made Bogey
We all get a little angry at times after making a dumb bogey or double. How many times when that happens do we just get up on the next hole and rip it down the middle? A lot. The reason is, you’re so distracted by being mad that you don’t strategize too much or get balled up with swing mechanics. Try to hit every tee shot that way. Use emotion more than thought. It’s amazing how your body will respond to plain old desire.
7. If You’re Small, Hit More Balls
There are ways for smaller or older golfers to condition themselves to get more power, even if they don’t spend time in the gym. For many, the best training ground is the practice range, the old rock pile. So wear it out. Ben Hogan once said that beating hundreds of balls made him incredibly strong and improved his swing along the way. Get “golf strong” by hitting a lot of balls. Your hands and arms will become more wiry and your body more toned.
8. Flare Out Your Front Foot
I’ve played a lot of practice rounds with Tiger (who I tease for being a short hitter, by the way). When Tiger wants to really pound a drive, he fans his left foot out at about a 45-degree angle. That almost forces him to clear his hips and lower body faster through the swing, his belly button facing left of the target at the finish. It allows him to generate tremendous power. I’ve copied that move from Tiger, and it works. Just be careful not to flare the foot out too far, or you’ll limit your backswing turn. Get it right, and you’ll hear the difference — you’ll make a louder swish when you swing the club through impact.
9. Beware: Rust Forms Fast
If I go three days without playing, I know I’m not going to show up with my usual 126 miles per hour of clubhead speed. Rust kills distance, and it doesn’t take long to form. Going a week without playing is the story of the amateur golfer’s life, so learn to live with it, and lower your expectations a little. You can fend off the rust by making 30 or 40 full-speed practice swings on days you can’t make it to the course.
10. Tee Off Like You Just Made Bogey
I’ve heard guys talk about making a big shoulder turn on the backswing but a modest hip turn. I say that’s bogus. The farther I turn my hips, the farther I can turn my shoulders, and the farther I can hit the ball. Don’t restrict your backswing in any way. Turn everything, so you have as much windup as you possibly can. Extra motion means a longer swing, more clubhead speed and big distance.
Check out this new commercial for GolfTown in Canada featuring PGA Tour player and Travis Mathew ambassador, Bubba Watson. He is wearing all TM and you can noticeably see our very popular TM ICON belt in white and our Player polo shirt in purple. Watch this video and get to know a little more about Bubba… and how he got his name! Travis Mathew has dealer locations in Canada making it easy for our neighbors to our North to outfit the Canadian greens in TM! Find out more by contacting our Canadian Distributor, Rampion Enterprises, Ltd., toll free @ 800.678.0314 or cservice@rampionent.com .
Here is a look at TRAVISMATHEW in Dallas for the 2010 Byron Nelson tournament. This is a behind the scenes look at tournament week, that you won’t see on sports channels, or on the sports page. This video includes, hanging out with tour professionals John Mallinger and Tommy Armour ||| (including Tommy’s infamous Byron Nelson party), a tennis match between John Mallinger and Mark Knowles (professional tennis player), a clinic with TM long drive champ Jamie Sadlowski and more!! In Jamie’s section … he hit’s it 400 yards through a watermelon, as well as a piece of plywood! Hitting it over the fence of the range was easy for him, but everyone was surprised to see him hit almost as far left handed!
Here is PGA Tour pro and TM player John Mallinger showing us all how to hit a long bunker shot! Hope it helps your game.
Check out this new commercial featuring Travis Mathew supporter Bubba Watson! He is wearing all TM and you can noticably see his grey TM vest. You can buy this as well as many NEW items in the travismathew.com store!
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!!!!
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)
