AUSTIN, Texas – Bubba Watson is apparently less interested in playing in the Presidents Cup than he is in traveling to Australia as an assistant.
Because he just brought that up again – and it was very much out of the blue.
Seated in the interview room at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play on Tuesday, this week’s defending champion was asked about playing in the same group with local favorite Jordan Spieth.
Here’s how he chose to answer: “I didn’t want to let this out of the bag, but I’m really thinking I’m going to be vice captain for the Presidents Cup. Don’t tell the captain yet. So for me it’s perfect, I get to watch these great players, and hopefully they can make the team, with Kevin Na, Billy [Horschel] and Jordan.”
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These comments echo what Watson said at the Hero World Challenge in December, a solid 12 months before this year’s matches. He was asked what would make for a good 2019.
”I have been bugging Mr. Tiger Woods about being a vice captain for Australia,” Watson said at the time. ”I would love the honor of doing that again. The reason why is I feel like I can service. For me personally, I have more enjoyment serving 12 guys than playing.’
”I always bug Tiger. ‘He says, ‘You need to be playing.’ I said, ‘Look, man, we’ve never won a Ryder Cup with me playing, but we’ve won when I wasn’t playing. So me and you need to be captain and vice captains.’ That’s our joke. I’ve told him, ‘Listen, I’ll do anything to help you if you want me. If you don’t, that’s fine.”’
Just last month, Woods named Fred Couples, Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker as his first three assistants, with Watson missing the first cut.
Watson previously served as a U.S. assistant to Davis Love III at the 2016 Ryder Cup, when he was left off the team while ranked seventh in the world.
He is currently 14th on the U.S. points list, with the top 8 automatically qualifying for Royal Melbourne.
