Story highlights
Zurich Classic champion Bubba Watson taking a break from his duties as a father
Masters winner says he hasn't even touched green jacket after Augusta victory
Returning to New Orleans out of obligation to fans and charity
The 33-year-old Christian insists he's just an "average joe"
If it was left up to Bubba Watson, he’d be at home changing diapers instead of defending his New Orleans title this week.
Ahead of Thursday’s opening round at the Zurich Classic, reigning champ Bubba admitted he’d rather be caring for his adopted baby boy Caleb than on the green at TPC Louisiana.
In fact, the 33-year-old Masters champion is so unconcerned with his golfing triumphs, he hasn’t even touched the coveted green jacket won in Augusta earlier this month. Well, only to post a picture of it on Twitter hanging next to Caleb’s identical tiny outfit.
“Truthfully, I haven’t thought about being a major champ,” he told reporters.
Just over a month after adopting Caleb with wife Angie, the devout Christian insisted: “It’s all about my son and being a better husband.
“I haven’t seen the green jacket, the green jacket’s been hanging in the closet since the Wednesday of all the media stuff so I haven’t touched it since then. I held the baby jacket right up next to it for the Twitter photo but I haven’t touched it, I haven’t thought about winning.”
But with money raised from the Fore!Kids Foundation throughout the tournament going towards helping rebuild a city still struggling in the aftermath of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, big-hearted Bubba admitted the Zurich Classic was simply too important an event to miss.
Plus there’s the fans who will be hoping to catch a glimpse of the reigning champ hitting the type of miraculous shot that won him the trophy in Augusta.
Bubba burst into tears after escaping out of woods on the 10th fairway in a playoff against South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen.
But despite bawling on his mother’s shoulder in front of the media scrum, Watson insists he is unfazed by his wins. At New Orleans, there are more important things at stake.
“I thought about coming here because I owed it to the fans being the defending champion,” he said.
“Winning a tournament, no matter if it’s a major or not, it’s a big deal, it’s a major event for that city as it is about raising charity dollars – especially round this place. They would love some charity dollars to build the city back up to where it used to be.”
Fresh from the media whirlwind that has surrounded him since taking the Masters, Bubba played up to his “average Joe” appeal.
“I’m just Bubba from Bagdad, Florida,” he said.
“Small town. Play golf because it’s fun. Every day is different. Some days it’s windy, some days it’s not, some days the ground is firm, some days it’s wet. You wake up, it’s always a challenge. So you always challenge yourself, you always set goals for yourself,” he said.
“I think that resonates – that’s a big word, there – with everybody. It resonates with everybody because I’m from a small town, I played public golf courses growing up, and I think that everybody can see that.
“Everybody can see that my swing is homegrown. That means everybody has a chance to do it. Hard work, dedication, practice and the drive to do it and not worry about what other people say.”