Bubba Watson finished 30th out of 30 players in his first Tour Championship (2008). In his first three, his average finish was 23rd. East Lake did not make a good first impression.
“The grass — the Bermuda — the tighter fairways, for me, it’s not good,” Watson said Tuesday. “And then I catch a lot of flyers, the ball doesn’t stop out of this grass for me. So, it’s a very difficult golf course for me,” he said Tuesday.
But he arrived at his fifth Tour Championship very upbeat. He is higher in the FedEx Cup points than ever before (third), and said his last appearance at the tournament — a fifth in 2012 — gave him belief he was beginning to figure out the place.
Nor were you going to hear Bubba complain about being over-golfed, playing four in a row in a crowded playoff format, then facing a pressure-filled Ryder Cup in just two weeks.
“The money they’re putting up for us (a $10 million bonus to Fed Ex Cup champion in addition to the usual tournament bounty), the retirement dollars, you make it work. You’ll figure out a way to show up on the tee,” he said.
And Bubba doesn’t figure to be sweating his Ryder Cup readiness.
“The only difference I see (in preparation) is packing my suitcase, because all my clothes are going to be over there,” he said, referencing all the official U.S. team wear. “All I got to pack is my underwear, I guess, and my socks.
“I’ll be there seven days. I’ll pack five pair (of underwear) and flip two of them around.”
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