Bubba Watson beats Saints rookie quarterback in throwing competition

Bubba Watson made an appearance at the Greenbrier on Thursday. However, the West Virginia golf resort’s resident PGA Tour pro was not there to model his two green jackets but rather to show off his football abilities.

And to hang out with a couple of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, Tom Brady and Drew Brees.

Watson, No. 3 in the standings for the FedEx Cup playoffs -- which start next week at The Barclays -- took advantage of joint practice sessions the New England Patriots are holding this week at the site of the Greenbrier Resort by rubbing elbows with a few superstars. He even got the notoriously churlish Bill Belichick to pose for a scrapbook shot, along with NBA Hall of Famer Jerry West, Saints coach Sean Payton and a Greenbrier bigwig.

Brady, an avid golfer who’s played the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am several times, teed it up at Augusta National with former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy earlier this year. The reigning and four-time Super Bowl champion looked anything but worried about the witch hunt NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is on to uphold the four-game “Deflategate” suspension.

Bubba, by the way, can toss a football. He took part in the Saints’ daily passing competition on Wednesday and finished ahead of rookie Garrett Grayson.

“We don’t hand out participation trophies,” Payton said later. “But let the record show that Bubba Watson finished ahead of our third-round draft pick.”