B. Watson told Arnold Palmer in person why he wouldn’t play Bay Hill
Bubba Watson was planning to play in this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, but tightness in Watson’s lower back forced him to withdraw. Watson didn’t want to simply walk away from a tournament he loves, so he got in his car last Friday with his son Caleb and drove over from his Orlando-area home to Palmer’s Bay Hill to tell him in person.
“I thought if Caleb was with me it would be easier,” Watson said in joking fashion on Golf Channel on Tuesday. “I came over right before the (entry) deadline to tell him I pulled out, just talk to him about life, give him some energy, trying to encourage him as much as I could, if he even needed it from me.”
Instead of talking golf, however, Watson and the 86-year-old tournament host chatted about life. Palmer even picked up Watson’s son and took a photo with him.
“He’s the one who picked Caleb up and put him on his lap. I didn’t do it. I didn’t stage it or anything,” Watson said.
Watson said he tweaked his back in the waning holes of the third round at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral two weeks ago. However, Watson finished second to Adam Scott there and gave no hint that the injury would prevent him from playing in the Masters, where he is a two-time winner.
The Bagdad, Fla., native is also thinking down the line in a jam-packed season that features two majors in a three-week stretch, the Olympics and the Ryder Cup.
“You have to look at the big picture. The big picture is the Olympics, the Ryder Cup,” he said. “A lot of therapy and a week of rest, I thought that would be the best for me going forward.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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