Bubba can’t wait for Olympics

Bubba Watson didn’t have to be convinced to compete in the Olympics. He would have accepted any role — as long as he could don red, white and blue in Rio de Janeiro in August.

“They [could have] asked me to be the towel boy, and I [would] have went to the Olympics,” the two-time Masters champion said while preparing for the PGA Championship, beginning Thursday at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.

While big-name stars such as Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy opted not to take part with golf returning to the Olympics for the first time in more than a century, Watson jumped at the chance. He is so excited, he recently tweeted a photo of the shoes he will be wearing there: red, white and blue hightops with stars on them.

One reason he was so gung-ho about competing was his wife, Angie, a former member of the Canadian national basketball team, injured her knee and missed out on a chance to compete in the 2000 Games in Sydney.

“There was no fear at all. It was a go,” said Watson, the sixth-ranked player in the world, a Florida native. “I was going to go as long as I made the team, and [I] somehow made the team. I’m glad people dropped out so it could guarantee me a spot.”

Watson will be joined in Rio by Americans Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar. They attended an orientation meeting Monday night with former Olympic speed skater Dan Jansen.

“We’re all ... pretty passionate about it,” Watson said. “Any time you can play and represent your country to that level — obviously we represent our country this week — but to that level, a higher level, it’s pretty special.”