Child’s play beats golf for Bubba

IN a plush hotel not far from Royal Birkdale, a select crowd has gathered for breakfast and Bloody Marys as excitement for The Open reaches fever pitch. This base in the centre of Southport has been commandeered by the Royal and Ancient and it is where Ernie Els, winner of the Claret Jug in 2002 and 2012, is staying along with world No 6 Jason Day. As big a draw as those two are, this audience — which includes footballing royalty and golf aficionados Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen — has congregated to spend an hour inside the colourful, unorthodox world of Bubba Watson. He is here to promote the G/Fore clothing brand he will wear in the coming days but what follows is a candid insight into the highs and lows of his career and the questions he needs to answer about his future. Watson, a dual winner of the Masters, is not expecting to collect his third major here. This season has been miserable, with seven missed cuts including at Augusta and the US Open. A positive way of look-ooking at the past sixsix months would be too say there have beenn three top-10 finishes but when that is put to him, the 38-yearold’s response is revealing and honest. ‘It’s terrible,’ he says.s. ‘There have been someme highlights but whatat I believe has happenedd is lifelife. Sometimes you get focused on something and it hurts somewhere else. The whole thing I have focused on this year is family. ‘How do you make your wife feel like she is your princess, your queen? How do you make your kids feel like they are the only thing in the world? My two-year- old is letting me know that she is two years old. She’s sleeping about two hours a night, jumping on her bed, screaming and hollering! My five-year-old son just wants more attention. So do you just keep focusing on golf? Or do you focus on life? You are going to have years, weeks and months when you are better at one thing than you are the other one. I’m not smart enough to figure out how to do both.’ For all the doubts, he is relishing contesting The Open. Watson arrived on his private jet on Monday, but rather than familiarise himself with Birkdale, he headed to nearby Formby Ladies Golf Club to play 18 holes with friends. Yet ththere is much going on in WatsWatson’s life off the course. He ownowns the Blue Wahoos, a Minor LeLeague baseball team based in PPensacola, Florida, and his ccandy store, Bubba’s Sweet Spot, is thriving in the same town. You wonder how long he will ppersist with the grind of the toutour. He and his wife Angie adoadopted their son, Caleb, and daughdaughter, Dakota, and golf does not providprovide the joy they give him. ‘I don’t know,’ he replied when reminded that he once said he would retire after winning 10 PGA titles (he has nine). ‘Do you walk away when you hit your number? Or do you play and keep grinding it out? It just depends on where life takes me. Ask me after the 10th. I’ll probably say, “I’m playing golf forever!” ‘Then a few weeks later I will start missing cuts and I’ll quit. The beauty is I have got status on tour for the next six years. I could quit for three of them and then come back. It’s a hard life!’