Bubba Watson responds to his peers who dislike him

Bubba Watson did not pitch a fit and there was no whining in the Augusta National press room when the issue of how much his PGA Tour peers dislike him arose on Tuesday.

“I take it as I need to improve as a man,” Watson said about a recent ESPN.com survey that revealed his fellow pros did not much care for the two-time Masters winner. “I take it with pride. I need to get better. And I think over my career, since my rookie season to now, I’ve gotten better. But obviously there’s more room for me to improve as a man.”

The ESPN.com “Secret Survey” polled 103 tour players anonymously on a variety of topics, including which of their colleagues they would not help in a hypothetical fist fight. Bubba topped the ballot, with 23 votes, outdistancing runner-up Patrick Reed by a wide margin.

Watson is great with kids and can take a pie in the face as well as Jimmy Fallon. He has also been known to voice his displeasure about Mother Nature, fan-friendly pre-tourney entertainment, the media (such an easy target) and entire nations that offend his sensibilities. He has also not been above blaming his long-suffering caddie, the object of a widely used Twitter hashtag, for his miscues.

So it was refreshing to hear Watson accept criticism of his flaws as something of a challenge, and even agree with those who judged him harshly.

“I answered that question, I put my name on there, because I’m not going to call out anybody; there’s nobody I dislike on tour,” said the defending Masters champ. “I dislike them if they beat me, but I don’t dislike them as a person. So I put my name down there. So one of those names were me; I wrote it down myself.”

Watson also noted he was trying to cut down on the on-course outbursts.

“I’ve had some mess-ups on tour and I think I’ve improved in those areas and I’m trying to get better. That’s all I can do,” he said. “I’m glad people that call me out when they do, that’s the only way I can get better. If I don’t know about it, then I can’t improve.”

Bubba, by the way, had no quarrel with those who answered the specific question (“_____ is in a parking lot fight. You don’t stop to help him”).

“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,” he said. “So yeah, I wouldn’t help myself, either.”