Bubba Watson hoping less is more in effort to win third Masters
Bubba Watson is hoping less is more as he attempts to join some of the greats of the game who have won three or more Masters titles.
Watson, who defeated Louis Oosthuizen in a play-off in 2012 and won by three shots from Jordan Spieth and Jonas Blixt two years later, is among the favourites for the year's first major after arresting his slide down the world rankings with two wins this season.
But the unorthodox left-hander will not be spending hours on the course or practice ground at Augusta National before play gets under way on Thursday, despite having the chance to join the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods and Gary Player in the history books.
"The difference this time around is energy," Watson said. "I asked a few people, older gentlemen in our golfing lives, 'What do you need to work on and how do you recover from a stressful day?', because mentally, physically you're going to be exhausted.
"So the change in preparation is less golf, not playing 18 holes. I've played Augusta (enough times) now, I can sit back and only play nine holes a day. And that's what I did today. I played nine holes and I hit some balls and putted.
"That's the difference in the strategy and that's what I did different from the two times that I won here. I'm looking for nine holes tomorrow and then the only golf I'll play on Wednesday will be the par-three (contest)."
One of the "older gentlemen" Watson took advice from was 47-year-old Phil Mickelson, who won his first title since the 2013 Open earlier this season and is seeking to surpass Jack Nicklaus as the oldest Masters champion.
Mickelson is just one of a host of star players in good form and Watson added: "Yeah, the storylines are amazing. There's so many people that are playing well right now. It's a challenge so we've got to be on top of our game to force the Sunday charge to put on a green jacket.
"That's what we want. We don't want an asterisk by it and to say everybody played bad so you won.
"We want everybody to play their best. I'm hoping everybody gets the media attention and I just kind of sneak through the back nine roars there and somehow pull out a victory."
