Reports: 2-time Masters winner Watson off to LIV
Jay Williams says he is a proponent of LIV Golf challenging the PGA Tour to adapt to a new era in the sport. (2:12)
Bubba Watson, the two-time Masters champion who at one point was ranked as high as No. 2 in the world, reportedly is set to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series, the breakaway tour that continues to add well-known names to its roster.
Watson, 43, has been sidelined since late May due to a torn meniscus, disclosing the injury after contending early at the PGA Championship before finishing tied for 30th.
According to United Kingdom-based The Telegraph, which first reported on Watson’s PGA Tour exit, the well-known left-hander and shot-shaper is poised to make his LIV debut in the event outside Boston over Labor Day weekend. An official announcement by LIV Golf is expected this weekend; the tour plays its second U.S.-based event (and third overall) at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey starting Friday.
Watson has 12 career PGA Tour wins, including triumphs at the Masters in 2012 and ’14 and World Golf Championship titles at the HSBC Champions in 2014 and Match Play in 2018. He has represented Team USA at four Ryder Cups (2010, ’12, ’14, ’18) and two Presidents Cups (2011, ’15).
More recently, Watson has dropped to 86th in the world. His best individual finish on the PGA Tour this season is a T-14 at the Waste Management Open. He also teamed with Harold Varner III to finish T-4 at the Zurich Classic.
According to multiple reports, Watson will serve as one of the captains of LIV’s four-man teams when he does begin play on the tour.
Charles Howell III, Paul Casey and Henrik Stenson — players who, like Watson, are in their 40s — will join 37-year-old Jason Kokrak in making their LIV debuts this week at Bedminster. Stenson was stripped of his Ryder Cup captaincy after joining LIV, which has drawn scrutiny because it’s bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.