Bubba Watson just misses a double eagle on Doral golf course he ‘can’t stand’

While Rory McIlroy was busy chucking clubs into the water in frustration, the usually excitable Bubba Watson was anything but moody on Friday at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Playing alongside McIlroy and Stenson, Bubba posted two eagles in a three-hole stretch at Doral, adding to the one he had on Thursday. But after the round, a 69 that came without a birdie on his card and put him inside the top five, Bubba said, “I can’t stand the golf course. It’s way too tough for me.”

Things could have gone sideways for Watson right off the bat, as he made a bogey on the par-5 first after finding the water. Six pars later he was staring down a 225-yard approach to the green on the same hole that nearly derailed McIlroy’s round and stuck a 3-iron to within two feet.

That shot was almost as good as the one he made at the 12th on Thursday, when he hammered a drive 376 yards and then stuck his second shot to just a foot on the 601-yard hole.

Following another par at the ninth, Watson blasted out of a green-side bunker to the bottom of the cup for an eagle at the par-5 10th.

So that was two eagles in a three-hole stretch and it quickly jumpstarted the round for the defending Masters champ.

“Me and my caddie were laughing about that one,” said the laid-back Bubba who, after a second-round 69 sat just five shots off the pace. “For me, it’s just about staying calm, staying collected, and obviously, making a few putts here and there.”

Oh, and bombing and gouging his way around a track lousy with hazards, sandy and wet.

“Just every shot is tough, there’s trouble on every hole, a lot of bunkers. I’m in a lot of bunkers,” said Watson, who was not about to play cautiously.

“I don’t want to lay off the tee, I don’t want to lay back and have 5- and 6-irons into these small greens,” he explained. “It just makes it tough for me and my personality in what I want to do.

“Off the tee, I hit a lot of drives,” Watson added. “I can go around here with a lot of irons but I don’t want to do that; it’s not the way I play. So for me, yes, it’s very difficult.”

As for how Watson, who’s known as much for his liverish temperament as his two green jackets, viewed McIlroy’s outburst, Bubba chose not to pass judgment on his club-tossing colleague.

“I thought it was a practice swing and the grip was wet,” he said. “I just don’t have any comments for that, because, you know, we all get frustrated, so there’s no reason to say anything negative about it.”