Bubba Watson To Beg Jay Monahan For PNC Chance

Bubba Watson says he will beg PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan to let him play in the PNC Championship when he sees him at Augusta National during The Masters.

The LIV Golf player, who has been out injured since last May’s PGA Championship, returns to action in this week’s Saudi International on the Asian Tour. Before teeing it up at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, though, his thoughts turned to the unofficial PGA Tour Champions event in December.

Like other LIV Golf players, Watson is suspended by the PGA Tour after joining its bitter rival. However, the 44-year-old hopes Monahan will make an exception for the family orientated event. He said: “My son, like I said, he doesn't play golf, but now his whole goal was - I'll put this out there, his whole goal was to play in the PNC, which is the parent-junior, and now I'm not allowed to play in it. As soon as I see Jay Monahan - if Jay Monahan is watching this, I'll see you at Augusta and I'll try to beg you to let us play the PNC again.”

Despite its more relaxed nature, the PNC Championship still offers prize money. However, that’s something Watson says is not a motivation for playing in the tournament. He said: “I never took a dollar for the PNC. I've played in the PNC twice. My dad is passed away, so I played with my father-in-law, I gave it all to a children's hospital. It wasn't about money for me. This is about helping. This is about maybe one day being able to play with my son. It's a cool tournament, and my son was kind of disappointed that he knows we're not going to play in that.”

Watson also explained that he was grateful that he would be able to compete in this year’s Masters - another tournament he likes to involve his children in. He revealed his son would caddie for him at Augusta National but, because the LIV Golf schedule has a tournament in Orlando the week before, he will miss two events in the build-up to the first Major of the year that are close to his heart.

He said: “I was very thankful that we get to go back to the Masters. Then LIV announced their schedule, so I won't be able to go to the women's tournament or the Drive, Chip & Putt with the kids because we'll be in Orlando. But it's one year, I'm going to definitely be in the ears of people at LIV and try to see if I can get back there because I want to support what the Masters means to the game of golf, what the membership of Augusta means to the game of golf, and I would love to be there for the Women's Amateur and the kids on Sunday.”

Last August, Watson revealed that he’d had to tell his children he would miss their favourite tournament on PGA Tour, The Travelers Championship. He also said: “I told my kids that there is a chance, there is a possibility, that we can't go to Augusta. And I told them, if they tell me that I can't go, being a past champion, then I don't want to be there.”

Thankfully for Watson, that threat has been lifted at least for the time being. Whether he will be able to persuade Monahan to allow him to compete in the PNC Championship later in the year could be another battle.