Fan favourite Watson brings the fun

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 24: A relaxed Bubba Watson kept the crowd entertained during his first round – and then told the caddies to chill out.

With Ernie Els a late withdrawal, the American was the clear fans’ favourite at Port Royal, and they weren’t disappointed.

Some quality shots early on saw him surge into a two-stroke lead until a bogey on the sixth. Watson kept it together as Padraig Harrington found form but admitted he struggled on the greens.

Watson said: “It was fun — any time you get to come to this event it’s going to be fun.

“Some of the caddies were looking for hole locations for Wednesday I was like guys this is a fun event, why you working so hard?

“I left a couple of shots out there. I think I made three three putts — just not having had the practice out there on the greens and just not feeling comfortable.

“But three under — you can’t get too mad at that. The weather was perfect and the fans were great so it was good.”

Watson’s self-styled ‘Bubba Golf’ has more than a shade of Seve Ballesteros about it, with the 2012 Masters champion capable of improvising when in trouble (who could forget his hook shot out of the rough to win at Augusta?).

And he was at it again at the par-four 15th yesterday, conjuring up a bit of magic to make an improbable birdie.

Sliced

He explained: “I hit my tee shot and sliced it, I couldn’t ground my club in hazard so I just hovered the club and punched down on it. My caddie said we had about 130 yards and it came out perfect. I somehow pulled it off and luckily I made the putt. It’s not a good shot if you don’t make the putt.”

Watson’s booming drives were highlighted by overnight leader Harrington at the completion of the round — but Watson insists it doesn’t give him an edge at Port Royal.

He said: “There are holes here where you hit a drive as far as you can and it rolls back. Length is not an advantage on this course, it’s about solid iron shots and making putts. Everyone is going to make the fairways, they’re generous.”

One-shot behind Watson lies Webb Simpson, who conceded he never really built up a head of steam the way he would have liked to.

He said: “Overall it was a good day. I made one sloppy bogey on nine, 18 (bogey) was just a bad break – for her and me - when my shot hit the lady.

“I never really got anything going. It was solid but I need to get off to a better start to have a chance in the final round.

“We had a game plan. There’s a lot of holes you’re hitting wedges into and you can attack but the wind was a little harder than we thought — it’s hard to make putts when the wind’s blowing that hard. Padraig made a few but I had quite a few lips today.

“Three-under it would have finished with a par and I would have been only two back but three back with 18 holes to go isn’t that big at all.”