"It’s a new business” - Bubba Watson says he was sceptical about joining LIV Golf

Former Masters winner Bubba Watson joined LIV Golf in July this year. The American was one of the biggest names to complete the defection.

After months, he has now revealed that he had a number of reservations about LIV when first presented with a chance to join the series.

Watson recently revealed that he almost didn’t move to LIV Golf. He dubbed the series as being a “new business” and said it had chances of failing. The 44-year-old made the switch either way and joined the Saudi-backed breakaway circuit.

He settled for a non-playing captaincy role in the inaugural season of the rebel series as he was recovering from a knee injury.

Speaking to Bunkered, Bubba Watson said that he had a number of factors to consider before eventually signing a deal with LIV Golf. He said:

“It’s a new business and every new business has a really good chance of failing. So, do you want to put yourself in that situation or do you want to take a leap and not so much change the face of golf as add something new?”

He added:

“Truthfully, I loved everything about the idea of it but it’s a scary thing when you have to actually sign your name. It’s like buying a house. When you look at how much that new house is costing, it’s like, ‘I don’t know if I should put my whole name on that.’

“There was nothing wrong with the product. There was nothing wrong with what they were giving us, what they were showing us and what they ultimately produced. It was just fear of the unknown, I guess.”

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Bubba Watson on the challenges of choosing LIV Golf

Bubba Watson, who has admitted to having struggled with mental health issues in the past, said that the move to LIV Golf was challenging mentally as well. The golfer said that he feared backlash from social media for moving away from the PGA and DP World Tours.

However, he finally put the pen to paper and made the move regardless.

Speaking about his internal thoughts at the time, Bubba Watson said:

“In this day and age, it’s so easy to make up a fake name on social media and say what you want and there are no consequences. That’s what I was dealing with when I was trying to sign the paper. I was so worried about what people were going to say to me and think about me.”

He added:

“I had a lot of conversations with my team and with my wife and, ultimately, we made the decision to go for it. I can honestly say that I’ve had nobody, face to face, say anything negative.”

It’s safe to say that Watson is happy in the breakaway league. The golfer revealed the same in an interview with The Times.

Speaking about the move, the American said it was “the happiest” he’d ever been. He said that the breakaway league gave him “the best opportunity to help people.” The golfer hinted that it was the right call to move away from the American tour as well.

Watson is set to return for the 2023 LIV Golf League season, which is set to get underway on February 24 in Mexico.