Watson to rein in his driver in Open bid

Bubba Watson has admitted he’s going to need to adopt a much more conservative game plan if he’s to win The Open Championship this week at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

The Masters champion, known for his monster hitting, believes the key is playing safe off the tee and hitting a lot of irons.

“You’ve got to hit fairways around here so you can control your next shot because it’s so demanding with all these pot bunkers. You’ve got to miss the greens on the right side.”

Length is not such of a factor this week, despite the course measuring over 7,000 yards, as the course features over 200 bunkers waiting to catch errant shots. Watson feels the set-up is similar to that of the US Open at Olympic Club.

“It’s about hitting the fairway and avoiding the bunkers and high rough. I’m going to hit a lot more irons off the tees, try to play safer, smarter, and have a longer shot into some of these holes. The par-five seventh I’m going to hit iron off that tee even though I could reach it if I hit in the fairway with a driver, just so I can eliminate big numbers. With the driver I can be a little wide at times.”

Watson took a break from the game after his win having adopted his son Caleb and since returning to competitive golf his form has been patchy.

“I missed the cut at the US Open but finished second the week after. My game feels where it needs to be but it’s all about executing the right shots at the right time.”

Bubba tees off with World No.3 Lee Westwood and believes the Englishman has a great chance of earning his first major title.

“He’s won over 40 times over here. He’s a great player and you expect him to do well. To win a major you have to play good golf and have other people not play their best. He’s played really good golf so every time he tees it up he’s going to have a chance to win.”

Don’t miss Westy’s wise words after his interview on Tuesday… (July 17).