Bubba Watson is a golfer who is currently ranked the world’s number 1 golfer. Like many top players, he has a fear of heights and hates riding in elevators.
Every golfer has their own way of approaching the game, and Bubba Watson’s is to stand over a 30-foot putt rather than ride an elevator.
Bubba Watson wins again. No, it doesn’t happen on the golf course – yet – but it does happen in life. The recent news about Naomi Osaka has prompted Watson to speak out about his own mental health issues, just as he is showing signs of returning to form and perhaps triumphing at the Masters one day.
Bubba Watson vs Naomi Osaka: I feel for her
I don’t like enclosed spaces. I don’t like hitchhiking. I don’t like heights. There are a lot of things that give me mental problems, Bubba Watson said. | Sam Greenwood/Getty Images Watson, 42, a two-time Masters champion, first spoke about his problems in February, but his comments went largely unnoticed until Osaka withdrew from the French Open. He was there, and that’s one of the reasons he supports Osaka.
Osaka was in the news last week when she said she would not give interviews, arguing that media obligations put psychological pressure on players. This week, she changed her message, retreating after her first-round victory and admitting that she could have been more open about her new struggle with depression instead of framing it as a broader sports issue. Watson gave a remote interview to reporters before the start of the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, and talked about situations in which he feels uncomfortable.
Oddly enough, the encounter with the journalists is one of these situations. I am now in a room with cameras watching me, Watson said. I don’t like enclosed spaces. I don’t like hitchhiking. I don’t like heights. There are many things that cause my mental problems.
So I know what she’s talking about. But that’s part of the job. You’re supposed to be doing interviews. People sponsor the event, people (pay) the prizes because they sponsor. So that’s part of the job. But if you’re not, if you’re not where you need to be, then yes, you should go home and get better. I don’t know her situation, but I feel for her.
Watson overcame a drought
Watson has not won on the PGA Tour since 2018, an unusual lull for a man who had four years of contender status before breaking through by beating Corey Pavin and Scott Verplanck in a playoff at the 2010 Travelers Championship. Two more wins followed the following season, and in 2012 Watson won the Masters in a playoff with Louis Oosthuizen.
In 2014, he earned his second green jacket and finished second on the money list, earning over $6.3 million. Watson dropped to 91st in the money in 2017, but three wins and another three top 10s the following year moved him up to sixth. As 2019 dawned, Watson fell back into a slump. But that has nothing to do with mechanical flaws or dedication to the game.
Why did Bubba Watson give up?
As Watson grows up, he goes through phases where he feels out of place with people. To some, this may seem jerky, impatient, even rude. As his symptoms worsened, a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety problems finally gave Watson hope. I thought I was going to die, and my mental health issues took over for a while, Watson told PGATour.com. I weighed over 60 pounds and stopped watching my weight because it was causing me too much stress.
Watson fought it, but not before the relationship was ruined. I kept it to myself for so long that it hurt. It hurt when people wrote about me without knowing me, he said. I’m at the point where I can see it: Let’s talk about it. I don’t have to hide the fact that I’m someone who cries sometimes. I’m a human being with problems, just like everyone else. Watson began to post decent results in the second half of 2024. After a slow start to the year, he finished 26th at the Masters, then finished in the top-20 in three consecutive events before a disappointing 80th at the PGA Championship.
He is determined to accept temporary setbacks. I stopped looking at social media, he said. I stopped watching my interviews or following myself on Golf Channel or ESPN, whatever channel they aired, because I wanted to get away from it…..
Mentally, I lost track. Watson hopes Osaka will take the same stance. I have fears. I have my doubts. I have problems with pride. I have an ego problem, he said. I have them all. I have every problem you can imagine, and I’m still here, and I hope I get better, and I hope she gets better too. Like Sportscasting on Facebook.
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