Following second-round 78, Watson says golf is hard but ‘writing articles is easy’

Bubba Watson says he’s as healthy as he has ever been. Nothing is ailing the two-time Masters champ physically.

Watson even felt like he hit the ball well Friday, to which he did when driving his pink golf ball many yards down each fairway. But just it was a year ago at Augusta National Golf Club, his game was off. His putts wouldn’t fall, and the bogeys piled up.

In total, Watson’s second round ended at a 6-over par 78, leaving him at 8 over for the first two days. Watson, who ended his day in the mid-afternoon, seemed resigned to the notion he wouldn’t make the cut.

The former Georgia golfer chalked up his day to windy conditions, fast greens and near misses. He also added a shot at the fourth estate while he was at it.

“Golf is tough. I don’t know if you’ve ever played it. Writing articles is easy. Golf is the hard part,” Watson said. “Right now, golf is winning. But I’m getting better. I’m hitting the ball like I want to. I hit the ball perfect (Friday). There’s one shot I wish I could re-do. That would be the No. 2 tee shot I hit in the hazard. All the other shots, we did what we thought was best. The wind thought it wasn’t the best option.”

Watson later posted a video to his Twitter account that said he was attempting a joke in that situation.

“It was 30 mph winds, golf is hard,” Watson said. “And if Bubba Watson tried to write an article, that would be very hard. And what I was saying to the reporter is golf is hard, so if he tried to play golf, it would be very tough. Writing an article is a little easier for him than it is for me. It was a joke. I love all journalists. Obviously I made a bad joke just like I played bad golf this week.”

Apologies for my bad attempt at a joke today... my jokes as bad as my golf this week! pic.twitter.com/T6hVOBvcpV

— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) April 7, 2017

Watson bogeyed his first four holes Friday, three-putting Nos. 1 and 3. But No. 18 summed up his day. From about 3 feet away for par, Watson’s putt lipped out. He also bogeyed Nos. 6, 14 and 15.

For Watson to put himself in position to make the cut, he needed to birdie No. 18. His approach shot landed just over the downward slope on the green. A shot six inches shorter would have caused the ball to roll closer to the hole.

Instead, Watson three-putted his way to a bogey.

“I still could’ve missed the putt, but it would’ve been nice to have had a chance,” Watson said.

After the slow start, things did seem to trend better for Watson just before the turn. He birdied Nos. 8 and 9, with No. 9 coming in strange fashion. After hitting the flag over his second shot, which would have gone for eagle, the ball rolled far away from the hole. Watson made up for it by hitting a tough birdie on his ensuing shot.

From there, it went downhill as Watson hit three bogeys on the back nine.

Watson was ranked fourth in the world last year before the Masters. He has since fallen to 19th with only one top-10 finish in the first few months of 2017.

Watson was asked if anything was bothering him from a physical standpoint as his play over the past year has not been the norm. He said he isn’t injured. But evidently, something isn’t right.

“No, because I keep missing cuts,” Watson said. “Everything’s good. I’m healthy as I’ve ever been. It’s just one of those things.”

This story was originally published April 7, 2017 at 6:56 PM with the headline "Following second-round 78, Watson says golf is hard but ‘writing articles is easy’."