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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP


June 15, 2007


Bubba Watson


OAKMONT, PENNSYLVANIA

Q. One of the better 71s you've ever shot in your life?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, it was. That last hole, to get a par there felt like a birdie to me. So, yeah, it was pretty nice.

Q. How are you feeling, your first weekend into the U.S. Open you're going to most likely be in that first final pairing; what are your thoughts?
BUBBA WATSON: Just go out and test the waters early, you know.
But it's going to be tough. It was tough for me today. I'm not good on afternoon rounds by sitting around all morning, because I got up this morning and checked to see the coverage; and waiting around all day thinking about how the bad shots were going to be and the good shots were going to be, but I hung in there. And if I can do that the next two days, it will be a real good thing.

Q. Three or four top 10s, is this a progress in the way you're playing right now?
BUBBA WATSON: My whole career, junior golf, college, and Mini-Tour and Nationwide and here, every year I've gotten better. And on the Nationwide I got better each year. Last year I was 90th on this Money List, and so far I've already passed my money total each year. And each year it's a stepping stone, me doing it by myself with no training, no coaches, and that's how I judge it.
And every year I've gotten better, so it's obvious I can work a bit on my own.

Q. What does this performance tell you?
BUBBA WATSON: I can gut it out if I stay focused. The last few weeks I've been hitting the ball really well and hitting the ball well, and I knew coming into this I had a chance to do well; not to win, it's hard to do, because there is always going to be somebody that plays really well. But to hang in there is impressive to me right now.

Q. Have you ever played in an environment like this before?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, my home course is just as tough as this.
No, this is it. This is the biggest crowds I've ever seen. This is a test of golf all the way through, just walking through the parking lot is hard enough.

Q. Stretch of bumpy, 3, 4, 5?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, 3 I tried -- I tried to hit driver yesterday. And today I saw in coverage it was hard to keep it on the green.
So today I went with a 5-iron off the tee and wasn't committed to the shot because it's hard to hit a 5-iron off a hole that long. So I wasn't committed and I hit a 7-iron out of the bunker. But I guess it rolled down to the front and from there, I didn't want top run it over; so I took bogey. I was like, you know what, let's make sure we get bogey and get out of here.
5, I hit a terrible drive and the wind drifted it more, and then I got a great break when it hit the flag and stopped about a foot from the hole, so I made par.
And I missed about a two-footer on 6 and I hit the green and three-putted from 40 feet; slipped out a putt that broke a little bit.
I didn't feel like I hit bad shots, but it's the U.S. Open; you're going to get bad breaks and you have to stay focused.

Q. Did it help you stay relaxed playing with Boo?
BUBBA WATSON: Always does. Me and him, we're having the same pressures. He's thinking the same thing I'm thinking.

Q. Which is what?
BUBBA WATSON: I don't know. That's what we're trying to figure out. He's probably thinking about fishing. I'm thinking about video games.
No, it's fun, just having friends out there. Anytime you look at the pairings and you see a good friend of yours, that makes you happy so you know the first two days are going to be fun. No matter if you play bad out there, you're going to have fun.

Q. Have you ever made on a more difficult golf course?
BUBBA WATSON: No.

Q. What did you hit into 8?
BUBBA WATSON: Hit the same club as yesterday, a little bit farther, but I hit a 3-iron both days and today it was more downwind. So it makes it easier to hit there, but it was like 280 today or something like that.

Q. Talk about 9 and 12 and how you came back from that.
BUBBA WATSON: Again, I hit it in the hazard today. So I used the driver instead of the 4-iron and pulled it and hit it in the walkway. Thought I hit a great shot. I thought it was downwind, about 10 feet short of being perfect, and it didn't bounce into the bunker on 9. So I had an awkward shot. I hit it 5 feet because there was nothing I could do, and then I chipped it and tapped it in and saved bogey again.
And then on 12 I hit -- I missed my target by 10 feet again and plugged it in the lip of the bunker and hit it to 20 feet and just missed that.
So it was never a bad shot where I thought I hit a horrendous shot; I just missed my target. On the U.S. Open, you don't have much room for error; normal tournaments you do, but not here.

Q. Birdied 13 and 14?
BUBBA WATSON: It's funny, because Craig Kanada yesterday -- I looked at the stats for some reason, and Craig was 6-over, I think, maybe more. But he birdied four of his last six yesterday on that side.
And when I missed my birdie, I went over to my caddy and I said, "If Craig can do it, today is tougher, so let's get 2-under these last six; we're doing pretty good."
And I made a couple bogeys here and there, but I ended up 2-under the last six and that's what kept me focused.

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