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Bubba Watson on criticism from golfers: ‘I take it as I need to improve as a man’

By Patrick Schmidt

Apr 13, 2014; Augusta, GA, USA; Bubba Watson lines up a putt on the 15th green during the final round of the 2014 The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 13, 2014; Augusta, GA, USA; Bubba Watson lines up a putt on the 15th green during the final round of the 2014 The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports /
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Bubba Watson returned to The Masters as the defending champion but with a target on his back for reasons unbeknownst to him.

He has a lot of fans off the course but Bubba Watson doesn’t have many fans on the links.

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Watson won his second green jacket last year and returned to Augusta National earlier this week in search of his third, but also found out he was the “winner” of an ESPN poll that revealed Watson has more enemies than friends on the PGA Tour.

The question was posed as follows, “___ is in a parking lot fight, I’m not coming to help him.”

Watson received 23 percent of the vote with Patrick Reed came in a distant second with 11 percent of the vote. The results weren’t surprising considering he’s been a polarizing force and outspoken individual on the tour in recent years. He rubs people the wrong way with his words and his actions, but what athlete at the top of their sport hasn’t drawn the ire of the people chasing him or her at the top?

Personally, I think he’s good for the tour and for the game that’s been devoid of a marquee attraction since Tiger Woods had his body fall apart on him. There are other great players on the tour but none who move the needle like Watson.

He could have been miffed at the results, and I’m sure he was in private, but in a Tuesday press conference, he took it in stride and is taking an introspective approach and seeing where he can be a better person.

“I take it as I need to improve as a man,” Watson said on Tuesday, via CBS Sports. “I need to get better. And I think over my career, since my rookie season to now, I’ve gotten better. But obviously there’s more room for me to improve as a man.

“I’m glad that people call me out when they do; that’s the only way I can get better. If I don’t know about it, then I can’t improve.”

That’s a mature approach because he easily could have been angered and lashed out at his fellow Tour members and challenged them to a fight in the parking lot, where no one would have came to his defense.

He can get his revenge and have the last word beginning on Thursday with the opening round of The Masters that can be seen on ESPN with the coverage shifting to CBS for rounds three and four on Saturday and Sunday.

Do you think Watson can repeat and get his third green jacket since 2012?

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