Augusta National is chief rival for players

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- When defending Masters champion Bubba Watson looks at the leaderboard today, he will see many golfers trying to rip the (green) jacket off his back. What he won't see is his chief rival.

MORE: Masters leaderboard  |  Adorable Masters Par 3 Contest photos

Watson respects the challenge of players like Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as well as the threat of young guns like Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed, but while they all are great competitors, they are not his rival.

Augusta National is his rival.

"The first part, the rival, the golf course is always the toughest part," the two-time Masters champion explained yesterday. "There's not too many rounds shot under par, so obviously the golf course is always set up difficult. Anybody in the field is good enough to win the golf tournament. At a certain level, everybody is capable.

"Now, am I going to wake up feeling my best? Am I going to wake up thinking my best? Am I going to wake up performing at the top of my game that week? Who knows? I don't know that. I can't tell you that, and I can't tell you who is going to do that. But we are all good enough to win."

That being the case, the issue is not how McIlroy, who is going for the career Grand Slam, or the rest play. What matters is the course and how he, and he alone, deals with it. That, among other things, is a lesson he learned after first winning here in 2012 and then failing to defend the title in 2013.

Winning back-to-back Masters is something only three golfers -- Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo -- have done, so the likelihood of Watson becoming the next has been a subject of some discussion. So, too, has McIlroy's effort to become the sixth golfer to win the career Grand Slam. It is natural in such circumstances to speak of rivals, especially when an ESPN survey of 103 PGA Tour players responding anonymously placed Watson at the top of the list when finishing this statement: "____ is in a parking lot fight. You don't stop to help him."

Watson received 22.5 votes. Reed, at 11, was a distant second. That indicates Watson has more rivals than the course, but he took that news the same way he seems to accept whatever happens to him, with a joke and self-help lecture.

"I take it as I need to improve as a man," Watson said. "I need to get better. It's a challenge. It's great. I'm glad it came out. It's going to help me improve. If it's a bad thing and people don't like me, then I've got to improve and prove them wrong."

Among the respondents naming him was, of all people, Bubba himself, which says something about the man's self-knowledge.

"I put my name on there because I'm not going to call out anybody," Watson said. "There's nobody I dislike on tour. I dislike them if they beat me, but I don't dislike them as a person. So I put my name down there. I've never been in a fight in my life, so if I was in a fight, it was my fault. I caused somebody to get angry. So yeah, I wouldn't help myself."

Beginning today, Watson will do what he can to help himself retain that green jacket, which must be returned to the club if you're not the reigning champion. Many feel his game is among the best suited for the course's demands, which favor cut shots instead of fades, long drives and creative short irons.

Watson possesses them all. He also has the knowledge that comes only from losing here after winning.

"In 2013, I was a newcomer (to being Masters champion)," Watson admitted. "I was still trying to find my feet. I was still trying to figure out, somehow, I'm Masters champion. Showed up at the champions dinner for the first time, and I was the honorary guy there. I'm the guy that had to pay the bill for the dinner. I had to sit at the head of the table. So this is all a new experience.

"Media attention is different because you're defending champ. It's just a lot of things went on. I'm not making that as an excuse for my bad play. When I look back at it, it wasn't my best, but I made the cut. Half the field wishes they were there playing on the weekend, struggling like I was.

"This year, what I'm looking forward to is I know my routine, I know what I want to do, and I know what I need to do. Hopefully just knowing that I'm not as nervous, not as skittish, not as anxious to get to see all these great champions in this champions dinner."

There is still the pressure of being defending champion, of course, as well as the pressure that comes with any major. That plus the pressure the course applies with its odd rolls on the greens and the importance of knowing where best to miss. If you miss on the wrong side at Augusta, you find yourself in Hades.

Understanding that, Watson was asked if there was more pressure on him or McIlroy. His response was the kind that leads people to vote for you in polls like ESPN's.

"Well, I think . . . I don't have any pressure," Watson said jokingly. "I've already got two jackets. Now, if I had to win -- if you were just looking at me and McIlroy, I would say McIlroy.''

He went on to elaborate and add context, saying he doesn't view it as pressure on McIlroy to win here because he'll have many more years to do it. But context is often lost in today's world, and all that's left is, "I've already got two jackets."

Watson didn't say that the way his rivals will take it. Fortunately for him, his only rival has no ears. Just 18 holes of beautiful torture that begins at 9:24 this morning.

---

This article was written by Ron Borges from Boston Herald and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.