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Bubba Watson poses with U.S. Solheim Cup team members and Toldeo police officers.
By Keely Levins
Team USA already has a full coaching staff, but a surprise advisor appeared on-site at Inverness Club during Solheim Cup week. Two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson joined captain Pat Hurst and assistants Michelle Wie West, Stacy Lewis and Angela Stanford on Tuesday in Toledo, Ohio.
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Watson has played on four Ryder Cup and two Presidents Cup teams. He’s never been on a winning Ryder Cup team, but both of the Presidents Cups he’s played in have resulted in victories for Team USA.
On Thursday, there will be a two-team celebrity event, and Watson is one of 20 players competing. Since he’s on-site, he contacted Hurst and asked if he could help out.
“He’s got a wife, he’s got a daughter, and he loves golf and he loves, like I said, he just wants to support women’s golf. And so I was all for it,” Hurst said. “I asked the assistants. They were all for it and it’s been great. He’s been a lot of fun having him in the locker room hearing his take on a lot of the things, and a lot of times we have to tell him that, ‘Hey, men and women are a little bit different and I think he’s definitely seeing that.’ But we’re all enjoying him around, players, caddies. We’re asking him a ton of questions and it seems like he’s having just as much fun as we are with him around.”
Assistant captain Angela Stanford said that while she was walking around the course, she saw Watson talking to Danielle Kang about a chip shot. The two were going over different ways to hit it, with Watson sharing how he’d approach it.
“He’s available, and I think that’s what makes it so special is you just have,” Stanford said. “You have a major champion, multiple major champion, another one walking around and being helpful. So I think that was the cool part. I just kind of stood back and watched that and watched them interact and it was really cool.”
