Reigning Masters champion Bubba Watson admits he must “improve as a man” after his fellow professionals appeared to choose him as the most unpopular player on the PGA Tour.
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An ESPN.com survey of 103 tour professionals – 21 of whom were major champions – anonymously answered questions on a wide range of topics, including which player they would not help in a fight in the car park.
Watson, who is chasing a third green jacket at Augusta this week, got double the number of responses (22.6 per cent) of second-place finisher Patrick Reed (11 per cent), with Rory Sabbatini third and Robert Allenby fourth.
Asked whether the survey results irritated him, Watson replied: “No, I take it as I need to improve as a man. I take it with pride. I need to get better.
Practicing for Augusta!!#LookingForMyGolfBallsInTheWater pic.twitter.com/hg286ikkfL
— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) March 31, 2015
“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, and hopefully the next year or the year after I will.
“It’s a challenge. It’s great. I’m glad that it came out and it’s going to help me improve.
“So if it’s a bad thing and people don’t like me, then I’ve got to improve and prove them wrong.”
Watson admitted he had been involved in “some mess ups” on Tour but said he did not dislike any of his professional peers.
“I had the same question asked to me, so I answered that question,” Watson said. “I put my name on there too, because I’m not going to call out anybody, there’s nobody I dislike on Tour.”
