Bubba Watson doesn't mind being overlooked

In the previous 48 hours, Bubba Watson was shown baring his soul and fears on 60 Minutes, then became bedridden for what he estimated was all but two hours of a 30-hour period with a sinus infection that induced vomiting and required a house call from a doctor.

On Tuesday, it was back to golf and the fact that the two-time Masters champion might be flying under the radar.

Most of the pretournament attention is focused on Jason Day, the world’s No. 1 player and winner of his past two starts, and two former No. 1 players, defending champion Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.

But Watson, who has won more recently than Spieth or McIlroy this season, seems to be an afterthought – which is fine with the mercurial University of Georgia graduate.

It’s similar to the 2014 season, when Watson won at Augusta for the second time with Adam Scott the defending champion, Tiger Woods coming off a player of the year award, Phil Mickel­son optimistic that his 2013 British Open win would spark a surge, and Rory McIlroy trying to find his touch after a winless 2013.

“That’s good,” Watson said after an 18-hole practice round with J.B. Holmes. “I’m hoping it works out that way again.”

With the exception of Watson’s putting and short game, he comes into the Masters with guns blazing in every statistical category and by any measure of scoring.

Watson is ranked fourth in the world, seventh on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup points list and third in earnings, with more than $2.6 million. He has made all seven cuts this season, with three top-10 finishes and four others in the top 25.

In addition to his victory at the Nor­thern Trust Open in February, Watson won Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge in December at 25-under.

Though it’s never a shock that he’s near the top on the PGA Tour in driving distance (fourth, at 311.1 yards), Watson leads in greens in regulation (.751), is 10th in scoring (70.029), 11th in final-round scoring (68.2) and is among the top 15 in scoring average on par-3, par-4 and par-5 holes.

One has to wonder how good Watson will be after he starts to putt and chip. He is 142nd on the tour in strokes gained putting (losing 0.141 strokes on the greens) and 140th in putts per green in regulation (1.781, which can be explained away by how many greens he’s hit this season).

The money putts – inside 10 feet – are giving Watson fits, and he’s ranked 189th on the tour.

Yet, he’s pounding the ball so relentlessly and hitting so many greens that Watson is giving himself enough chances. He’s 15th on the tour in average birdies per round (4.26) and second in the number of par-5 greens hit in regulation when going for it on his second shot (.387).

“He hit it fine,” Holmes said of Wat­son’s play in the practice round. “We had a great time. …”

One X-factor this week might be how Watson is affected by the 60 Minutes segment from Sunday, in which he described his numerous phobias (crowds, strangers, the dark, heights, buildings falling on him) and said, “I have a lot of mental issues. … I’m just too fearful of things, which I shouldn’t be.”

Watson said Tuesday that he doesn’t regret revealing that much of his personal fears on national TV.

“I’m not going to hide anything,” he said. “My dad always told me to tell the truth. My dark secrets aren’t that dark.”