Bubba Only Playing TPC Scottsdale (T2, T2) For His Sponsors
/There are a few ways to look at Bubba Watson's pre-tournament comments about the TPC Scottsdale and Waste Management Open. 
First, the comments. From Ryan Reiterman's GolfChannel.com report:
"I don't like it. I'm not going to PC it. I don't like it at all. I just mentioned why I'm here. I've got three beautiful sponsors that love it here."
Ping, Stance Socks and Oakley are all sponsors of Watson.
Watson said he was unhappy with the changes made to toughen up the course last year by Tom Weiskopf. Several fairway bunkers were moved to challenge even the longest hitters, like Watson, and as Phil Mickelson noted, a hole like the par-4 14th went from "a driver and a wedge birdie hole to driver, 4-, 5-iron and a very difficult par."
Sure, it's kind of unusual for someone to finish T2 the last two years and lament having to be there. But it's Bubba. This is a man who hated going to Paris. France.
But I welcome the brutal honesty and scratch my head at his disdain for a course he's played well at. But chatting with a few players last week at Torrey Pines, Watson is not alone in lamenting the direction TPC Scottsdale has taken in trying to limit long driving. Watson's "goofier and tougher" line was similar to what a few players said.
The stats back up the idea that Weiskopf's hope for limiting longer driving, even though the 2015 leaderboard was full of long drivers.
From Rob Bolton's always excellent PGA Tour Power Rankings:
• Weiskopf surmised that the thinking off the tee would evolve as a result of new, strategic bunkering. Indeed, the field of 132 was a quick study as its 61.38-percent clip for fairways hit was in line with history. However, it came at a cost since the average distance of all drives of 285.4 yards was down 10-15 yards from each of the previous four years, and this despite a layout stretched 114 yards to its highest-ever measurement of 7,266 yards. Still, it mattered little in determining the final leaderboard. Koepka ranked T47 for the week in fairways hit and still played his last 47 holes in bogey-free 14-under.
