“It was more fun than playing”

American golfer Bubba Watson recently joined the list of players moving to the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf. This was in celebration of the third event of the tournament, which was held at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster last week.

The event ended with the victory of Henrik Stenson in the individual ranking and by Team 4Aces GC in the team ranking. That Gregory Norman-led league reportedly managed to secure the services of Baghdad native Watson for a $50 million ticket.

“When I think about the atmosphere at Team USA during the 2016 Ryder Cup, I remember being number seven in the world at the time, but I was an assistant captain and I enjoyed that‘ said Bubba. “I enjoyed it more than playing. For me to pass on my knowledge, to encourage, to help the team grow, to help it improve by trying to win tournaments.”

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“Let golf grow as a whole”

12-time Tour champion Watson, in particular, won’t be back on the field until next year due to the knee injury that kept him from tournaments immediately after the PGA Championship. However, the LIV’s move seems aimed primarily at raising the level of participating golfers (Watson is the 11th major champion to join the Rebel League).

He added: “Ultimately, the obvious attempt is to let golf grow as a whole. Having people on your team (at LIV events) takes the exclusive individual sport connotation away from golf.