GLENEAGLES, Scotland - Bubba Watson will have on the same pants, shirt and sweater combinations worn by his American teammates in this week's Ryder Cup, but do not be fooled. The coordinated outfits cannot hide the plated suit of armor Watson wears to protect himself from expectations, scrutiny and rejection.
The event's corporate essence, a looming presence thanks to hulking suites, is discomfiting to Watson, golf's white knight, whose valiant fight against conformity has earned him a vocal following on both sides of the Atlantic.
Watson, 35, has a self-made swing that no instructor has touched, an oddity in a sport that has turned instruction into a lucrative cottage industry. Nor does he employ a sports psychologist, though he readily acknowledged many people 'have told me I'm mental.'
At the Tour Championship two weeks ago, he was asked if he liked being the center of attention.
'I don't set out in my life trying to be,' he said. 'I just try to play golf and do my thing and take care of my family.'
Tom Watson, the button-down golf aristocrat captaining the American team, threw the spotlight on Watson - no relation - this week when he singled him out as the team's catalyst, the one with the bull's-eye on his back.
'I would just say that he can really get it going and make it happen,' Tom Watson said, adding, 'If I just had to pull a name, he would probably be the guy that people would be looking to defeat.'
Bubba Watson won his second Masters title in April and was the leader in the United States Ryder Cup points standings, compiled over two years. His imaginative game and impressive length off the tee combine to make him a dangerous foe. The risk in assigning Watson a commanding role is this: One can envision him as a leader who leads a spirited charge to the summit, or steps off a cliff.
Webb Simpson, one of Watson's closest friends in golf, said, 'It's fun to be around him when he's positive and upbeat, but it is interesting.' He added, 'I think when Bubba Watson gets too serious about golf, or life, that's when you see a different side of him that isn't the Bubba we know.'
Simpson, 29, will be paired with Watson against Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson in the first group off in Friday's four-ball matches, same as in 2012 at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago. Simpson has spent countless hours in Watson's company, on the course and in regular Bible study sessions on the PGA Tour.
'He could be a comedian if he wanted to be, or at times I think he's an introvert,' Simpson said. 'So he's one of those guys that he's hard to figure out because you see a couple different sides to him.'
Watson's personality is as mercurial as the Scottish weather. He can court attention one hour and shrink from it the next. His hot-pink driver, introduced to raise money for charities, attracts notice, which Watson does not mind until he starts to feel suffocated by the crowds.
On Wednesday, in a practice round with Simpson, Hunter Mahan and Zach Johnson, Watson barely acknowledged the fans shouting his name. He kept his head down, for the most part, and hit first on every hole, sometimes before his teammates arrived at the tee box.
Watson's caddie, Ted Scott, cautioned against reading too much into the hitting order. 'He's just impatient,' Scott said.
His explanation also offered clarity to Watson's decision to send Watson and Simpson out in the opening match.
For all their closeness, Watson and Simpson could not be more different. Simpson hits it as short as Watson does long. The more nervous Watson gets, the chattier he becomes, while Simpson grows quieter. So why does the pairing, which was 2-1 in 2012, work?
'I tend to be very quiet, calm and businesslike out there,' Simpson said. 'He wants to joke around every hole. But I think that makes us a good team, and I think it's what's helped in the past is that we kind of balance each other out.'
During their final practice round Thursday, Watson was talking so much, Simpson said, he had to tell him to be quiet a few times. Watson did not get mad; he redirected his barbs to Simpson's caddie, Paul Tesori.
'Bubba's love language is giving you a hard time, so if he's giving you a hard time it means he likes you,' Simpson said.
Watson's growing fame has taken some getting used to, as he tries to balance his desire to be liked with his need for privacy and his gift for entertaining with his natural introspection. The two finest weeks of his career have come at the Masters, the only tournament Watson plays where he has breathing room from reporters and photographers, who are not allowed inside the ropes, and autograph-seeking fans, whose movements are severely restricted.
At his news conference Tuesday, Watson was quick to dismiss the notion that he was the biggest game the Europeans would be hunting this week. Deflecting the compliment his captain had paid him, Watson said, half-joking: 'He's making that up. He's making attention come to me when it's the other guys.'
Rickie Fowler, who participated in the Golf Boys music videos with Watson, Mahan and Ben Crane, saw through Watson's self-deprecation.
'He likes attention, but he doesn't want to show it in a public way because he doesn't want to come off as cocky,' Fowler said, adding, 'Around family and friends, he's going to have a lot more fun with it.'
At the same news conference, Watson addressed his partnership with Simpson.
'I can play with anybody on the team,' he said. 'Maybe they don't want to play with me, but, yeah, me and Webb have just jelled so well.'
Mahan was taken aback by Watson's comments. It was time, he said, that Watson was told the truth.
'He may not know how other people feel about him, it sounds like, which is unfortunate,' Mahan said, 'because we all like Bubba.'
Post By http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/sports/golf/ryder-cup-2014-us-team-banking-on-bubba-watson.html
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