Watson vows cerebral approach to U.S. Open

2013, T32

2012, Missed cut

2011, T63

2009, T18

2008, Missed cut

2007, T5

2004, Missed cut

British Open

2013, T32

2012, T23

2011, T30

2010, Missed cut

2009, Missed cut

PGA Championship

2013, Missed cut

2012, T11

2011, T26

2010, 2 (playoff)

2009, Missed cut

2008, 70

2007, Missed cut

For Bubba Watson, this U.S. Open is not so much about the re-design of the new/old-look Pinehurst No. 2. It’s not about the trading in of lush green rough for large stretches of scrub and sand.

No, the waste area in question today is the one that used to be between Watson’s ears. When the only man on the premises capable of winning consecutive majors held court Tuesday, it was not as the formerly feral golfer from Bagdad, Fla., the one who let his clubhead do all his thinking for him. Rather, it was the thoughtful, perspective-filled champion who likened this tournament on this course to a chess match.

“Although I don’t like chess,” the former Georgia Bulldog quickly added. Can’t take this braniac stuff too far.

Strange to hear the PGA Tour’s reigning Godzilla off the tee, the man who, according to no less an expert than Phil Mickelson, “overpowered Augusta” in winning his second Masters in April, claim he was going to approach Pinehurst with a delicate touch.

Yeah, right, and Vin Diesel is going to start doing Shakespeare. And Paula Deen is going vegan.

But here it is, Bubba’s Brainy Game Plan: “I’m going to try to lay farther back than normal because it’s iffy hitting in that — I don’t know what they call it, rough, dirt, sand (the new waste areas). I’m going to lay back and have a lot longer shots into the holes.”

“It’s a second-shot golf course, and it’s all about making putts,” he said.

This has the makings of a very confusing event.

On one hand, Mickelson is blowing “Charge” on his bugle: “The greens are so repellent that you need to get as close to them as possible — so I’ll be hitting a lot of drivers. I’ll be trying to play this golf course fairly aggressively.”

And then Watson, whose approach has always been Mickelsonian squared, is sounding retreat, pulling in, saying the risk of bombing off the tee is too great, the reward too little. “Not saying it’s the right strategy. Hopefully in four days I can tell you it was a great strategy,” he said. And you also just suspect, down to your bones, that it is a strategy subject to change on a whim. Won’t the Tour’s No. 1 in driving distance always default to wrapping that pink driver around his ear and letting loose the hounds?

The U.S. Open, with its premium on accuracy off the tee, is not a tournament seemingly built for a golfer named Bubba. And it hasn’t been. His best performance was seven long years ago — a tie for fifth in 2007. In the five since, there have been two missed cuts along with an average finish of 38th in the remaining three.

After he won his first Masters in 2012, Watson was pretty much a mess on any course, regardless of set-up. Lost in that life-changing moment at Augusta National, he didn’t win again for nearly a year and a half. He is markedly better-grounded now — with as many top 10s (seven in 11 events) this season as during that entire preceding 18 months (in 35 events).

“Bubba is a different player than he used to be,” said Johnny Miller, NBC analyst and 1973 U.S. Open champion. “He used to be hot and cold, and mostly he would be a little negative when he got out there. Bubba — the leading money winner — he’s gotten more consistent, his attitude is better.”

“Could be a long hitter could win the Open with the way the set-up is,” Miller said.

The Tao of Bubba seems more suited to U.S. Open success now.

When asked about the improvements in his short game, he went directly to his state of mind rather than some minute adjustment in his chipping. He was more a victory over pouting than putting. “It’s more mental,” Watson said. “I’m looking at life differently this whole year. 2014 is about rejoicing. Rejoicing in all the blessings that I have in my life. My beautiful wife, beautiful son, my team around me, getting to play golf on the PGA Tour.”

Bad Bubba still rears his head. Contending at the Memorial, he hit a Sunday tee shot that flew like a stray bullet over the roof of a home along the 15th fairway. At the Waste Management Open in Phoenix, he lost one Sunday tee shot in a desert pond and missed a short putt on 18 to fall out of a chance to tie for the lead.

But Good Bubba is the one doing the talking now. And he’s saying that he gets the U.S. Open.

“The U.S. Open is about challenging myself, not really competing against other people,” he said. “They’re trying to set it up where you don’t shoot under par, so you’re always challenging yourself to compete at a high level on a difficult golf course.

“I haven’t beaten the golf course yet in the U.S. Open. I’m still trying to get that one week where I beat it.”

Miller mentioned that Watson, at 35, ranked third in the world, could even challenge for No. 1 if he continues on his path of enlightenment.

The man who bought the General Lee, the old “Dukes of Hazzard” Dodge Charger, is ready to saddle up a Smart Car and drive it right down the middle of these redefined fairways. That’s the plan, anyway, before the fog of an actual U.S. Open round descends.