THE MODERATOR: We welcome Bubba Watson, Captain of the RangeGoats GC. Welcome to Singapore. Is this your first time here and what do you think of Sentosa?
BUBBA WATSON: When I first got there, the golf course was tight and it seemed more tight because of the ropes are really close in. Like No. 3, is give or take, 250 and then the fans were five feet off the green. So it made it look even tighter in my mind, the way my mind works.
And so it was scary for me. Then when we started playing, I saw Talor just start lighting it up the first round, shot 10-under, I was like, wow. I said if you shoot 10-under every day we have a chance to get on the podium. Shot 10-under the next day, and then I caught myself just watching him. Obviously watching the team but watching him -- thank you, sir, it was very emotional, first podium, you know.
So watching him, I was watching the leaderboard, and watching him get closer and closer. Lahiri was gaining on him.
So it was very -- scary is not the right word but I was pulling for him. I wanted my team to do well. Obviously I wanted my other guys to do well so our team could get on the podium. Wanted him to pull it out. I didn't want him to lose that, right. Worked so hard and fought so hard.
So yeah, it was very cool, watching the scene up 18. I got done in time and got back in time, signed my scorecard, got to 18 green and watched him finish.
I told him his hardest shot of the week was that 18th shot, middle of the fairway from give or take 50, 60 yards. That was probably the hardest shot. Not knowing what Lahiri was doing; he didn't know if he was already finished or if he had a chance for another birdie.
But he had to pull that shot off with all those people around, and he did it. So it was cool to watch. Very emotional because this is what we try to do. It's our first time getting on the podium, and then only losing by one, we had a chance to tie or to win it coming down the stretch.
So that made it more emotional because we wanted it so bad and it left a taste in the guys' mouth. The guys wanted to win and play better. I think Harold birdied the last hole but he also doubled a couple holes before that.
So yeah, it was very cool to get on the podium, very exciting but it just made them more hungry to attack again and try to get back on another podium and win. We want to win.
THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Bryson DeChambeau, the captain of Crushers GC. Welcome, Bryson.
BUBBA WATSON: I wouldn't have got to talk much if you had been here early.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: There you go, everything works out.
THE MODERATOR: Have you ever played Sentosa before or been to Singapore.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No, I have not. It's a beautiful country, really clean, it's really nice. The golf course is really tight so you're not going to see a lot of drives out of me this week. But got to play strategic and smart. Greens are pure. Love the greens. That's where I think I can thrive this week.
Q. Do the Crushers have any team plans to go out and explore Singapore this week?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: We did. Played nine holes yesterday. I wanted to go out there and play that. I heard that was the hardest nine. That's all I've done around Singapore.
Q. Do you have any plans for this week to go out and explore Singapore and experience what it has to offer?
BUBBA WATSON: Do you want my true answer or do you want me to lie?
Truthfully when I get to golf tournaments, and when we have a week like this week, coming from cooler temperatures last week, I am trying to get acclimated and rest. Rest is going to be the key around here, because you're losing so much fluids and so many electrolytes and different things. You're trying to stay hydrated.
So I'm not going to do much off the course, not because I don't want to, but because I'm trying to help our team get back on the podium. But from my room, I have a beautiful room that overlooks everything and I went down and ate downtown last night, off the island, as they call it. It was a great experience. I'm scared of heights, so I can at look the gondola but I can't get on it. My team, some of the staff went on the gondola last night. I think Talor went to -- I don't know what it's called, the hotel with the boat on top of it. He went there. He's not afraid of heights, and he went up to the top, and he said, "I'm scared of that."
So I was like, "I'm not doing that."
It's one of those things I'm here to work and I'm trying to prepare myself. So that's why I don't really go out and do things when I'm trying to relax and get ready for this week.
THE MODERATOR: The RangeGoats had a huge week last week. Walk us through that week what it was like for you as captain, rooting Talor on, and seeing you guys so close to getting on that podium.
BUBBA WATSON: It was good.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: : We did yesterday, went to JUMBO Seafood. Never ate crab in my life so that was a first. It was good. I liked it. It was fun and it was fun seeing all the ships in the harbor everything, and, it was fun.
THE MODERATOR: Similar question for Bubba. Last week was obviously a huge week and big week for Crushers and Anirban knocking on the door and he was right there. Tell us about your experience last week and what the crowds were like.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: That's what LIV should be, in its heart and its DNA, I think that's what it can be every single week, and will be when people start understanding what the real deal is here. There's been a lot of controversy and a lot of things going on, but we are here to play golf, and we are here to do the best we possibly can every single week, and it was fun seeing the fans support us.
THE MODERATOR: I know Singapore is excited to have the biggest stars in the world playing here this week. Are you anticipating the same fan reception on a smaller scale this week?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Definitely the same fan reception. It's going to be vibrant out there and there's going to be a lot of people following everybody. We are going to have some good crowds this week. I think it's 6,000, 7,000 a day. We are excited to see the fans and give them a show.
Q. I wanted to ask you about the team competition, obviously, Bryson, you guys won the first event, and Bubba RangeGoats came in second. It's the same team at the top, though.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah.
Q. Are you guys getting tired of seeing them at the top?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I am.
BUBBA WATSON: I dont care who is at the top. I don't like whoever it is, if it's not us. If it's us, then I like it.
Obviously we are trying to get our feet wet. We just got on the podium for the first time. So we'll try to move up that board, and truthfully that's what it's all about. Nobody is focused on individual. We are focused on the team. We want to play better for our team. Even Talor won last week, and he wanted to play better so that his team would have a better chance; instead of coming in second we had a chance to win.
Yeah, that's where we are focused at. Obviously the Aces are the ones to knock off the podium, the No. 1 spot, but at the same time, really doesn't matter who it is. If it was us up there, he would be trying to knock us off.
So yeah, we are all trying to knock whoever it is. It doesn't matter which name it is.
Q. Is there something that they found that everybody else is still trying to place?
BUBBA WATSON: Good play.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: They are just playing good. Bottom line. I know I haven't found it.
BUBBA WATSON: What tree is it under? I'm going to go to that tree.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Exactly.
Q. Is there something about camaraderie that can enhance good play, like team camaraderie? Does that play an impact?
BUBBA WATSON: It's not helping us. If you play good this week, we are going to go eating crab next week.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Exactly. Right.
Yeah, look, whenever somebody else plays well, like Vaughn played well, I felt like I let the team down last week. It's a big toll but you've just got to keep moving on and continue to try and improve yourself for the team.
BUBBA WATSON: It's a good question you ask, but I think that the teams now are bonded pretty well. You know your players. You know what they like and don't like, and you try to make it energetic throughout the week, not only as players or as a captain or the staff on the team.
So the bonding part is over with. Like we have already bonded. We already know each other. It's just about making the putts at the right time, and the Aces seem like they keep doing that.
DJ, I heard, is pretty good at golf, and Pat Perez -- Pat Perez played amazing last week. I know he had a difficult one on 18 with that chip from the green, but throughout the whole week, he played great. When you have -- I think all four top 10 last week?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Tough to beat.
BUBBA WATSON: My team, if we all top 10, we'll probably podium again.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Just start with a podium.
Q. So last week was your best result since you've returned. Where do you find your game after such a lengthy layoff? How close are you?
BUBBA WATSON: I mean, yeah, obviously I'm close. I think I'm close all the time but if you look at my putting stats this year, they are horrible. You look at my driving stats, they are way above average. My length and accuracy off the tee has been amazing this year.
So there's a combination there. Putting is the key, right. I have the other stuff and it's just coming down to that. But the more tournaments I get under my belt, the better. Made some mistakes. Tucson I played really well. Played 5-over on the par 3 No. 3 there.
So there's things that I can clean up and get better at, and I'm trying to. Hopefully my putting gets better and better as we keep grinding. But I do have some stats that I'm not very good in heat, so I've got to really try extra hard. That's why I'm not cooling out. I'm trying extra hard to stay hydrated and everything this week so I can be better than I've ever been in heat.
Q. How are you in heat?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I like the heat usually. I'm more comfortable in the heat. When it's this humid, it's a little different but usually dry heat I'm really solid. In cold, wet, I don't do very well.
Again, this golf course, it's more about hitting it in the fairway off the tee.
BUBBA WATSON: Tee shots.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Tee shots. It's a tee shot golf course. You are going to hit the greens. They are pretty big greens, and the greens are pretty pure. You should be able to putt pretty well, but you've got to drive it well this week.
Q. How good was Vaughn last week, given all that was going on?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: For him to do that was really special for him and his family. Proud of him. Proud of the guys. They are fighting hard. I'm grinding my butt off right now and I'm playing really bad.
So trying really hard to get better, and these guys are holding court for me right now, which has been awesome to see. That's what teams are about. It's nice for them pick you up when you are down.
Q. This golf course, I know you are both really long off the tee but this golf course, everyone says it's more like a mid-iron player's golf course --
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It is.
Q. -- because you have to place the golf ball. Would you agree with that, in the nine holes that you have played so far?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It is a mid-iron golf course. You're not hitting very many drivers off the tee. There's a couple holes like 6 you want to blast it left and long. Like there's nowhere to hit it in that fairway. It's too tight, for anyone, really. I mean, it's very, very tight.
So for me I just blast in the left bunker and get up on the green, or hit it over the bunker and hit it out of the rough and hopefully make birdie that way.
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, it's the same. That hole, it's crazy. That hole, 6, I watched 6 and 7. I watched the guy hit it in the fairway, and the ball, they have the grass shaved, and they have it downgrain. Ball just kept rolling, rolling, into the water. It landed middle of the fairway, two holes in a row.
And 6, I think 6, if you look at the Boo being, 250 yards up, 47 yards up is the next tee. That's how that hole is designed, the way we are playing it, if you don't hit it in the bunker, then you miss your shot. There's going to be guys trying to go hit the fairway and they are going to tell you they are trying to hit the fairway, but you are aimed at that bunker all day.
So it's just a little too severe, I think, the way they have it shaved. But No. 3 is just a hard hole. I think it's 3, right, the par 4, going downhill? Yeah. So that's just a hard hole. That's a quality golf hole. You hit a bad shot, you hit a bad shot.
But you could hit good shots on some of the other holes. That's why I played the front nine yesterday because I really wanted to see it. I'm going to go play again here again because I want to feel it again. I want to feel those couple holes. There's three tee shots that really get me on that side.
And so, looking forward to it. I mean, It's going to be a challenge for everybody. I mean, we are not saying that it's not a challenge for -- it's a challenge for everybody.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah.
BUBBA WATSON: You're just going to have to play good golf. And tee shots around this golf course, that's what I learned. Before you get here, you always find out as much information as you can, and this whole golf course is about tee shots.
And the bunkers. The bunkers scare you, the way they are designed.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: They are good bunkers.
BUBBA WATSON: They makes it look like there's no fairway, so it makes the shots in your head play tricks on you, so you just have to trust it.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: To be honest, I would like to play out of the bunkers all week. If I could play out of the bunkers, I feel like it would be the fairway for me.
BUBBA WATSON: I'm not very good at fairway -- I don't want bunkers. I don't want to be in this divot.
Q. One last question. Talor Gooch, the performance itself, but more than that, can you also tell us about what kind of celebrations you had after that on Sunday night?
BUBBA WATSON: I'm old, so I didn't do anything. He went out to dinner with some of the staff. They had to stay longer. My mom was with me, so I had to get my mom back because she flew home after that. So we went back to the hotel.
I didn't really celebrate with him. It's one of those things where, again, we celebrate with him, we talk to him but their focus was the team. We didn't win the team, so that's what -- that's really what we took away from it.
Yes, this guy won, and it was great, it was amazing, it was amazing he pick thing, his caddie is from Australia and gave him a flag. It was just an amazing experience.
But celebration, we want to win the team. We celebrate when the team wins. We celebrate together. So that's really more of what we were looking for and what we want to do.
But you know, I don't party. I go to bed early, so I didn't really do anything. I stayed up late that night, though. I think I went to bed at 11:00, me and Harold made me stay up. I went to bed at 11:00 that night. Gooch was still at dinner. Him and some friends, he had some friends in town, down in Australia. Some of the staff and the RangeGoats were with him, so I wasn't with him at that moment.
We didn't celebrate here because we're back to work. We celebrate later on when you have a week off.
Q. Obviously 2023 has been a rough year for you, you went through your nasal surgery; how has that helped you and do we expect to see the Bryson of 2018 this year?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I'm trying to get back to there. I tell you, it's been awesome, having off-seasons, to get my body healthy and right. I'm as healthy as I've ever been, and that's the nice part about it. I just have to get my golf game right.
So it's allowed me that opportunity to have the time to do so, and I'm working really hard to figure out how to get it back are.
But LIV has been amazing for everything that I've tried to accomplish these past couple years.
Q. Obviously LIV has been here just for two seasons, and where do you see LIV in ten years and what kind of legacy do you want to leave in LIV Golf?
BUBBA WATSON: Gosh, that's a great question. I know what our business plan is and business model is. We are talking about having teams from different parts of the world. We are talking about having our own golf courses that, basically, we'll call them our stadiums. We are talking about having golf academies to help young golfers, but also young golfers that want to play at our level, just like any other sports team around the world.
So there's a lot of dreams and aspirations and a lot of things that we've already accomplished in less than a year, but we still want to keep going forward.
Legacy-wise, I just want to be part of something that was amazing, I believe in. I believe in the right steps and what we are taking. I believe that golf was kind of stale and the only sport that I saw that was missing team atmosphere, we love The Ryder Cup, we love the Presidents Cup, so why not do it all year round.
For me, you play high school golf as a team, college golf as a team and pro golf, there's no team, and so now there's a team.
Legacy is just be to part of something. It's not about me or who I am individually. It's about all of us coming together to start LIV, to be part of LIV, and watch the game of golf to grow to a place it's never been before, and I think so far we are doing it. Obviously not as fast as some people want and not as nice as some people want, but I think we are in the right spot, and ten years from now, it will be a different conversation. I mean, I will probably be retired by then. But it will be fun.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I couldn't have said it better. He said everything perfectly.
BUBBA WATSON: Thank you. That means a lot. That's part of my legacy -- wait, it's not individual -- sorry, sorry.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: You said it perfect.
Q. Talor Gooch won week but his World Ranking fell by two spots. How soon should that be rectified?
BUBBA WATSON: I have got an answer on that, too, if you want my answer.
Q. I'll take both.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: You should realize that the OWGR is not accurate, one.
Two, I think that they need to come to a resolution or it will become obsolete. It's pretty much almost obsolete as of right now. But again, if the majors and everything continue to have that as their ranking system, then they are biting it quite heavily.
Again, I'm in a lawsuit, so I can't say much more. I'd have much more to say. It's very disappointing that that's the way it goes because it's not right, and I hope people can see through that.
It's disappointing that somebody takes such a hard stance. I mean, when you are looking at a situation, I always try and take both sides and look at them equally and say, okay, what's the best for everyone and everything, not say: This is the way it needs to be done, this is the way it's been done and this is how it should stay.
It's kind of -- humans are always moving forward in a -- I guess you could say, an innovative direction, and this is just another one of those steps and I hope they catch on pretty quickly, because they are going to run out of business pretty soon.
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, what he's saying is right. The first part that he said about if DJ, Cam Smith, Brooks, Bryson, are not in the field, then you're not --
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Bubba.
BUBBA WATSON: Then you're not playing the best players in the world, right. You could sit here and name all 48, right. You could sit here and name everybody. Those aren't the best in the world. If you're saying these tournaments are the best in the world, you've got to have the best there.
To keep them out or to make them lose World Ranking points is not the right way to go. I've said it, and I'm going to say it again. I believe we've just got to focus on the tours and our league, and the top players; if that means the PGA TOUR gets 60 to 75 guys from there to be in every major, great. And if that means ten to 15 of our guys, at the end of the year, whoever has the most points get in the majors, great.
Forget World Ranking points, just who is the best in your tour and our league and go from there. That's how you do it. It's simple math. Forget World Ranking points about who plays at what tournament, this tournament is better than that tournament, no. Your tour, your league, call it a day, and those places play against each other four times a year.
Q. Back-to-back tournaments on LIV, is there a sense of familiarity?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: What do you mean by that?
Q. Like the PGA TOUR, not spaced out.
BUBBA WATSON: It's good. You can work on whatever you didn't like last week. You're back at it again. You can pump yourself up going, okay, I'm going to be better than last week.
So yeah, this is obviously great and coming to a spot. Again we are entertainers, coming to a spot we can put on a show, but getting our team to get a win again. Whatever he didn't like about his game last week, whatever I didn't like, we try to fix it this week and go from it.
Like I said, the weather is just different, right. Some people like sweaty hands. I don't like sweaty hands. I feel like my club is going to fall out. I have to be sure that I really make sure my hands are dry before I hit, because I just, in my head, I just I feel like my club is always going to slip out. So that makes it tough for me in situations like this kind of weather.
Q. Do you miss your playing days on the PGA TOUR now in a you're enjoying life on LIV Golf?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No.
BUBBA WATSON: Yes, I'm obviously -- I loved Riviera. I love travelers. I still get to play Augusta. So those are the ones I won multiple times. I do miss those.
But like, I loved New Orleans, the team event, and now I'm at a team event every week. So individual and a team event every week.
You miss your friends, your true friends, the people that care about you, you miss them for sure. But that's like any business, though, right. You change jobs, you lose those friends that was at that job. You don't lose them, you just miss seeing them every day if that makes sense. So no, I don't really miss it. Just certain things.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: There are certain tournaments I really like. Like the Memorial was great to me. I loved it.
BUBBA WATSON: Milkshakes.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Milkshakes were unbelievable. That's their undoing, not ours.
BUBBA WATSON: Well --
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Hold up.
BUBBA WATSON: I'm not going to play in --
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: They are the ones that suspended us, so I could have fulfilled the 15-tournament obligation requirement.
BUBBA WATSON: Because you're healthy and strong.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: That's right.
Q. You mentioned how there has been some controversy around LIV Golf, but what do you guys think? Do you feel like the mood is shifting towards LIV Golf at the moment?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I personally do. As our charitable works get going, and again we are only a year in business so it's going to take some time to get everything locked in. I think at least from every team that I've heard, they are working on a charitable aspect and component to it.
I think the community impacts and what we are going to be able to do moving forward is going to be pretty substantial and you guys are going to start seeing the impacts of that pretty soon.
BUBBA WATSON: Just like any event, the economic impact to any city we go to, the hotels, restaurants, everything, we impact the city when we show up.
But yeah, I think the tide is changing. People are starting to see how (much) fun we are having, the team aspect, the competition at a high level. Talor wanted to bring back the field to make everybody watch golf so he shot a couple over at the beginning there.
But no, I think it's definitely changing. I mean, the more time, like you said, we had not even been a year yet so everybody has their ideas of what golf should look like but we are changing it and I think we are changing it for the better.
THE MODERATOR: Great, good luck this week, guys, stay hydrated and we will see you out there.
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