Although Bubba Watson knows that trading away the best player in LIV Golf looks like a "dumb" move, the RangeGoats captain believes it was a smart play to swap Talor Gooch for Matthew Wolff.
With just a couple of weeks until the 2024 LIV Golf League begins, the full team line-ups have still not been confirmed - including just who will play alongside Jon Rahm in his new team - but Watson's side has been set for a while.
A feature the LIV Golf League is pushing as a positive is the trade deals that can happen between teams, and one that raised eyebrows was Watson opting to send individual champion Gooch to Brooks Koepka's Smash GC in return for the struggling Wolff.
Gooch stormed to the title with a three-win season, while Wolff had a very high-profile falling out with Koepka that turned unsavoury at times.
Koepka called Wolff as a "wasted talent" back in July and said he had given up on him as "one guy is not going to give any effort" for his team. Wolff later responded to the five-time Major champion's claims, saying he was "heartbroken" as he continued to deal with mental health challenges.
Watson also made another trade to bring in Peter Uihlein, who is a close friend of Wolff's, and the two-time Masters champion says the combination of those moves made losing Gooch make sense.
“I’ve always wanted Wolff. I think Wolff is such a great talent and a great kid,” Watson told the LIV Golf website. “Once I made the deal with the Aces for Peter, it was easy to make the deal with Smash because now I’ve got the pieces that I wanted to make this all work.
“I knew the world would see this as dumb. But at the same time, if I’m taking a chance to come to LIV, people may have seen that as dumb at the time. And now people see it differently, right? Two years later, they’re like, ‘Hey, LIV’s not that bad.’
“So, when you talk to me in two years, well, it’s like any sports team when you make a trade. Look at Aaron Rodgers this year. Four plays in, he got hurt. And so the Jets blew it, right? I don’t know the future, but I can try to guess. And that’s what we tried to do, make our most educated guess.”
More importantly, Watson wanted to take Wolff under his wing to help him out with his mental challenges - something which Koepka was seemingly unable to do.
“I’ve always wanted to be on Matt’s side,” Watson said. “Always wanted to be in his camp because he’s young, right? I didn’t tell the world I had mental problems when I was in my early 20s, mid-20s. I wish I had somebody to talk with back then.
“It’s no good for Bubba Watson to play golf or to be part of this world if I’m not going to help people. And so with Matthew, when I sat back and before I made the trade, the light bulb went off. This is my chance to help Matthew.”
Golf Fit Checks with @matthew_wolff5 ✅@bubbawatson - Pink @PingTour Driver 👌@PeterUihlein - What are those! 👀 pic.twitter.com/FxxokHS6rpJanuary 16, 2024
Wolff finished as runner-up at the 2020 US Open behind Bryson DeChambeau aged just 20, but despite all his talent he's lost his way recently - although he knows he still has the skill if he can get his mind right.
“I know I've got a lot of skill and a lot of talent,” Wolff said. “For me, the main thing is just mentally making sure that I'm in a good spot, I'm enjoying where I'm at and I want to be out there.
“Being on a team with Bubba, I think he'll definitely be able to help me out with that aspect. But more than anything, just kind of getting me in a position where I feel like I can thrive and be myself. I really feel like it's a good fit here.”
Watson hopes having an arm around him and also having good friend Uihlein with him will help Wolff to play to his potential.
“Funny enough, the other day I told Matt, ‘You finished second in the US Open. You won on Tour. You were top 12 in the world at one point. You don’t forget how to play golf,’” Uihlein said. “He might’ve just kind of lost his way a little bit, but it’s not like he doesn’t know how to get that back.
“He just needs to go out there, be himself again, play golf, have fun doing it. It’s ridiculous to watch him. He’s the most talented player I think I’ve ever played with. No doubt he’ll be just fine.”
