“I just beat my caddie” – Bubba Watson is back on golf course after being sidelined for eight months 

US golfer Bubba Watson spent most of 2022 recovering from a knee injury. He underwent a surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. After eight months, the star is now back to competitive golf.

LIV Golf offered a small trailer before his competition as Bubba Watson was quoted as saying:

"I just beat my caddie and my wife. So I got that going for me."

He's slated to appear in several tournaments, the first one being the PIF Saudi International next week. A DP World Tour event till now, this year the tournament will be the Asian Tour's season opener.

Althoug Watson defected to LIV Golf from the PGA Tour in July last year, he has been out of action since then. So, his appearance at Mayakoba in February will be his first for the controversial series.

Despite not stepping on the greens, he served as a non-playing captain for Niblicks GC and also took on the role of the on-course reporter for the live broadcast.

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"I just couldn’t turn on it" - Bubba Watson

Bubba Watson at the PGA Championship - Final Round (Image via Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Bubba Watson was last in action at the 2022 PGA Championship in May. He realised something was off in the middle of the third round and told his caddie Gabe Sauer that he couldn't walk.

Initially not understanding what Watson meant, Sauer pointed towards a clubhouse nearby in case the golfer wanted to withdraw. Sauer reportedly said:

"You don’t need to injure yourself."

To which Watson replied:

"I’m already injured."

However, as he was so close to the lead, he was determined to go on. He probably even counted on a few miracle shots to stay in the mix. Unfortunately, Watson produced a dismal performance to tie for 30th spot.

The golfer who had begun the weekend at Southern Hills hoping for a third major title, left in pain and uncertainty. He said:

"My leg, I just couldn’t turn on it. I couldn’t twist on it."

Initially, he thought he would only miss 4-5 weeks. However, on further examination, the injury was deemed to be rather serious. The knee was operated on in early June. Over the next six weeks, his right leg muscle atrophied. He smirked while talking about it:

"I didn’t know I had muscle, first of all. But I just lost so much muscle, and it wasn’t so much the quad or the calf, it was everything. The hip, the hip mobility, all of that stuff. I had to learn to walk again."

In late 2022, he received to go-ahead from his doctor to resume normal practice sessions with no restrictions. Although fully recovered, that didn't mean his game was immediately where he had left it. It was a different kind of struggle as he recalled:

"I’m still trying to build that leg muscle up. I wouldn’t say I’m 100% on the leg muscle being equal (to his left leg). But I’m really close. I’ll say we’re 10, 15% off one leg to the other. I’m walking fine, no pain. It’s now trusting that I can really finish on that (right) leg."

He added:

"There’s going to be a few swings here and there where you just kind of revert back to old thoughts. So it’s like anything. It’s almost like teaching yourself to swing again or hit again. … Now it’s all on me."

Certainly, fans will be excited to see Bubba Watson in action after a while.