Since joining LIV Golf, Bubba Watson has rarely been in contention. The two-time Masters champion even found himself in the “drop zone” after last season, but returned to the Range Goats after stating his “business case” to not be relegated.
Watson dealt with a knee injury that required surgery in 2022. He made his LIV Golf debut in 2023 but has not looked like the major-winning Bubba Watson since his move to the breakaway league. He had just one top-10 finish in 2023 and zero in 2024.
“The last couple years, it’s been a struggle,” Watson said on Saturday after the second round of LIV Golf UK. “Been a struggle mentally, physically and golf-wise. You want to play better, right? … I want to have a strong finish to the year, and I see that I can do it. Now, will I do it is the question. But I would love to finish in the top 20 if not better.”
Watson’s play has ticked up this season. He finished T4 at LIV Virginia and T7 at LIV Mexico City. He is once again playing good golf this week in England. He sits in second place but is six shots behind Joaquin Niemann heading into the final day at JCB Golf and Country Club. While Watson’s chances of securing his first LIV win on Sunday might be slim, the 46-year-old is encouraged by his returning form.
“All of this is a positive step forward going forward in my career,” Watson said. “Obviously the better finish I can do, the better it is for me, better for the team, better for everything. Yeah, I’m going to get out there and battle. Second place right now looks like it’s a good place to finish, so it’s going to be a battle for the second place, if nothing else.”
Watson’s improved play is the product of two changes he’s made — a new caddie and a new putter.
“Yeah, it’s really good,” Watson said of his improving game after the recent changes. “I’m making the putts. Obviously caddie change. Listening to him on the greens, working with him on my putting, it’s been fun. It’s energized me. I feel like a young kid out here learning the game all over again. It’s exciting, and I’ve been calm, working on the mental side of it, and I’ve been calm out there on the golf course, and it’s paying off.”
Watson now has Kyle Peters, who caddied for Corey Conners in the past, on the bag.
As for the putter change, Watson has Peter Uihlein to thank for that.
“I talked to Peter Uihlein, who’s on my team. He’s well-known for being a great putter. … So I asked him what he did, and he told me he works on his stroke, works on trying to get the stroke the same every time. He told me a couple things to do, a couple training aids, a couple different things to use,” Watson said. “Then I went back to the Ping engineers and asked them what kind of putter I need. I need something that can hit it harder but also keep the ball on line if you mishit it. So we went to a mallet. I got a mallet, a Tyne putter, and it’s working so far. I’m getting them to the hole.
“In my career I usually leave them a little short so they’re usually just missing because I like to die the putts, and now it’s getting a little bit harder. Without changing my stroke, it’s getting a little bit harder, so more are going in. It’s exciting, and I’ve been calm, working on the mental side of it, and I’ve been calm out there on the golf course, and it’s paying off.”
The caddie change and new putter have Watson energized and playing good golf. But he is also now several years removed from the meniscus surgery on his knee and is finally understanding how his post-surgery body needs to play golf.
As it turns out, time might be the biggest key of all to Watson’s apparent resurgence.
“You don’t think about it until it happens, where my knee, my forward knee is where I like to put all my weight on chipping and putting, and then when you go through surgery and go through muscle changes, you kind of create bad habits,” Watson said. “So my bad habits, getting back on my heels, maybe even on my other side, so I’m not the same technique that I’ve always used, if that makes sense. So in all my years of practicing and playing, my technique has now changed over these last couple years, so we really dug in and tried to figure out what it is. So we’ve tried to figure that out, and I think we made a big step forward in finding out what it is. As my leg gets stronger — it takes two years for your leg to get stronger in that position, so here we are. Now we’re talking to you about some of my best finishes. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
Josh Schrock
Josh Schrock is a writer and reporter for Golf.com. Before joining GOLF, Josh was the Chicago Bears insider for NBC Sports Chicago. He previously covered the 49ers and Warriors for NBC Sports Bay Area. A native Oregonian and UO alum, Josh spends his free time hiking with his wife and dog, thinking of how the Ducks will break his heart again, and trying to become semi-proficient at chipping. A true romantic for golf, Josh will never stop trying to break 90 and never lose faith that Rory McIlroy’s major drought will end (updated: he did it). Josh Schrock can be reached at josh.schrock@golf.com.
