News & Tours
Bubba Watson says he's out 4-6 weeks with knee injury
Ezra Shaw
It may not have been a performance that was 2008 U.S. Open Tiger-esque, but Bubba Watson apparently gutted out contending in the PGA Championship while playing on a significantly injured knee.
In a tweet on Monday, Watson congratulated PGA winner Justin Thomas and said of his 30th-place finish after having a strong first two rounds, “It was a great event this year, just didn’t pan out how I hoped.”
Then Watson dropped this little bombshell: that he was pulling out of this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial. “Recent knee issues turned out to be a torn meniscus so I’ll be out for 4-6 weeks,” Watson said. “Hope to be back soon!”
At a minimum of four weeks, that likely eliminates Watson from having any chance to play in the U.S. Open at Brookline that begins on June 16, though he was not yet among those exempted into the field. At No. 69 in the World Ranking, the 12-time PGA Tour winner and two-time Masters champion does not qualify among the top 60, meaning he would have had to endure a one-day, 36-hole final qualifier. His next concern would be missing the Open Championship at St. Andrews, which is seven weeks away.
The U.S. Open has not been a tournament in which Watson has performed well. He’s appeared 15 times, with eight missed cuts and one top-10 finish that dates back to 2007 at Oakmont.
Watson, 43, didn’t have an obvious limp at Southern Hills, and he played spectacularly in the second round, shooting a seven-under 63 that put him alone in fourth going into the weekend. But he faded from there, scoring 73-75.
Playing a light schedule of nine events thus far in this calendar year, Watson’s only top-10 finish is T-4 in the team event at the Zurich Classic. He’s missed three cuts, including at the Byron Nelson in his final start before the PGA.