Bubba Watson left Augusta National Golf Club defiant after a first-round 75 to open his defense of his Masters championship.
The big left-hander contends he hasn’t precluded himself from a chance to become a rare repeat champion, nor is he concerned about doing so.
“I don’t need to press,” said the UGA graduate, who won in his fourth start here last year. “Even if I miss the cut I still have a green jacket.”
The last Masters champion to successfully defend his title was Tigers Woods in 2002. Many have struggled their next time out.
Mike Weir shot 79 in 2003 and missed the cut. Watson’s was the worst first-round score for a champion since Phil Mickelson’s 76 in 2006. Only four of the nine players since Woods’ repeat have managed to break par.
Watson insisted there he felt no different negotiating the grounds as a titleist. His round was simply a function of his play and what the course would allow.
“I hit the ball really well,” he said. “I can’t complain about my ball-striking. I had four three-putts. Well, it’s really three since one was on the fringe… . But, I never got the speed right, never got the ball to the hole. (The greens) were slower than what I was expecting.”
That was a common complaint among players completing their initial 18 on Thursday. But obviously Marc Leishman, Sergio Garcia and many others were able to adjust.
Watson’s game eventually smoothed out. After carding three bogeys to shoot 38 on the front nine, only a bogey on 14 sullied his inward journey. And then the greens rose up to bite him again. After misjudging the wind on his approach, he wound up on the wrong side of the green and three-putted.
Overall, though, Watson felt he got the bugs worked out.
“I didn’t feel any more pressure,” he said. “I just didn’t get the speed right on the greens. If I two-putt all those greens, I shoot 1-under, which would be a nice score.”
Watson will need a nice score Friday.
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