Making the shots and the putts is the easy part for two-time Masters Champ Bubba Watson. It's making his way through the crowds of strangers on the course that presents the toughest challenge for this often controversial PGA star. And, he tells Sharyn Alfonsi, his fear of people he doesn't know isn't the only mental issue he copes with every day. Watson opens up in the interview chair and on the golf course in a 60 MINUTES profile Sunday, April 3 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. A longer version of the segment that includes Watson at play in a fun, friendly golf match will appear on the next edition of 60 MINUTES SPORTS Tuesday, April 5 (9:00-10:00PM ET) on SHOWTIME.
"I have a lot of mental issues... I'm just so fearful of things, which I shouldn't be," says Watson. "Scared of heights... buildings falling on me... the dark. Scared of crowds." When Watson goes for his third green jacket in Augusta next week, the real "white-knuckle-knee-knocker" won't be a 10-footer to win on 18. "In between holes is really scary to me, because there's so many people that close to you," he says. "I'm just scared of people... in general." Watson has earned nearly $40 million playing golf, but says he has never taken a lesson. "It's easy to me... I can hit it far. I can curve it. I got the shots. It's just mentally being at that moment," he tells Alfonsi. She then asks Watson, who has had a few memorable outbursts on the course, how hard it is to control himself. "It's getting better... it's a learning process. I'm getting better at it."Videos