PINEHURST, N.C. -- Bubba Watson has one thing going for him: So far, nobody else has a better chance at winning a second major this year.
That's because he's already got one. But if the two-time Masters champion, who is trying become the first player since Tiger Woods in 2002 to win the first two majors of the year, will have to overcome what he has called “unfriendly” greens.
He also referred to the fairways as “weeds.”
"It's a tough test of golf," Watson said. "For me personally it's going to be all about the tee shots. I'm going to try to lay farther back than normal. It's still iffy -- I don't know what they call it, rough, dirt, sand -- but you don't know what kind of lies you're going to get [off the fairway]. So I'm going to lay back and have a lot longer shots into the holes.”
The world's third-ranked player is trying to join that short list of players to win both the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year. To do that, he’ll have to overcome a course that doesn’t look too friendly.
"I don't see too many birdies around here, especially if they put the pins in the corners,” he said. “You can't look at par or a number; you have to look at just finishing. It's going to be a tough test of golf. In four days, I'll tell you how much I really like it or hate it. And hopefully it's four days, not two."
He's certainly hoping this attempt goes better than the last one. Two years ago at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, he missed the cut. Is Pinehurst stacked against the golfers?
"I wouldn't say unfair. I would just say they are very difficult. I think it's a different mindset of golf."
-With the AP
