Bubba Watson says Tiger Woods should go back to basics if he wants to become the best golfer on the planet again.
In-form left-hander says Woods should go back to basics
Bubba Watson, one of the PGA Tour's hottest players, believes Tiger Woods should just go back to basics if he wants to become the best golfer on the planet again.
Watson is up to 10th in the world after winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last week while earlier this season he captured the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines - a course where Tiger once dominated.
Woods could only finish tied 44th at Torrey and you have to go back to September 2009 to find Tiger's last victory on the PGA Tour.
Watson, speaking ahead of this week's Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, believes he has the solution.
"Sometimes I think some of the great players, they get too wrapped up in the mental part," said Watson.
"Yeah, I'll just go ahead and say it - I think Tiger is going the wrong way.
"I think he's so mental right now with his swing. Just go out there and play golf.
"He used to hit shots, used to bomb it, used to do all that stuff.
"In 2000 and '97 I think he did pretty good. He won The Masters by 48 shots or whatever he won it by.
"When you start talking about other people trying to help you with your swing - 'look at this, look at that' - I think they take a step back.
"So I'm hoping they all get coaches.
Boss
The big-hitting left-hander has always preferred to do his own thing and work his swing out for himself and believes his decision to stay clear of coaches is the reason for his success.
"Why do I want somebody to tell me what to do, tell me what I'm doing wrong?" said the 32-year-old.
"I want to be the boss. My dad taught me to be a leader or a follower - and he said follower ain't fun.
"So I want to be the leader of Bubba Watson. What I say goes.
"I'm still a kid. I'm hitting shots that I want to hit. I'm doing the things that I want to do. I play it my way.
"People started coining the phrase 'Bubba golf'. I like that - let's use it. It's going to be fun. I mean, why do what everybody else does? That's boring."
Woods misses this week's event through knee and Achilles injuries suffered at Augusta a month ago and is also a doubt for next week's Players Championshp at Sawgrass.
Watson, meanwhile, will hope to crash through the $3m mark in earnings on the PGA Tour this year.
His current total of $2,904,817 puts him second behind England's Luke Donald, who sits this week out.
Tiger is down in 64th with $571,363.
