BUBBA WATSON: I would actually say when I'm in trouble, I have the advantage because I can play shots out of trees and curve it a little bit. I curved one today on the new No. 12, the par-5, I was in the middle of the fairway and I had a 5-iron and I had too much club, but I hit a 5-iron and I hit a low draw under the trees to get to the hole in two, but I hit it over the greens. I was scared to hit a 6. But I could do that shot, but if you try to go at the flag, the trees are in the way when you're trying to come down. That's an advantage for me where I can hit those crazy shots. So there's been a couple times where it is an advantage. But the hard part over the years is trusting my sight lines, so I've had to change it a little bit. Some of these guys probably don't even think about it as much as I do. I've actually played halfway decent around here over the years that I've played here.
Q. They say it's like a 15 or 20 percent difference with the tee shots distance-wise. Are there calculations for the curvature from your standpoint?
BUBBA WATSON: No, I just know I can't hit a 50-yard hook. It depends on how far it is, those kinds of things, but it's not going to be easy trying to do that, so probably no. So no, we don't do curvature, we just do the percentage distance. It's just like back home; you hit a draw, it's going to go further. If you hit a cut, it's going to go a little shorter. We just know I can't draw or cut as much as it used to at other places.
Q. It must feel good to play really well and to putt really well, which is a big thing for you this year?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, if you look at my stats over the last couple years, you look at my stats, I was close to dead last if not dead last in putting on LIV. So I changed my putter, I changed my practice, changed what I was focusing on, and I would have to -- I'm guessing I'm top 10 in putting this year.
Now, don't get me wrong, top 10 in putting is good, but my ball-striking has gotten better. I still haven't had the high finishes I wanted to. I've had some good finishes, good play, but not all together in LIV. At Augusta, T14, which is nice, but I was No. 1 in putting that week. I hit four bad swings that I know of at Augusta that cost me a lot. Cost me six to eight shots depending on what would have happened after that.
So yeah, putting has just gotten better, but I've worked on it. I've tried different things, tried -- went outside the box and tried things that I never thought I would try.
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