Former Masters winner Bubba Watson admits he had a number of reservations about LIV Golf that very nearly stopped him from joining.
Watson, 44, joined the Saudi-backed breakaway circuit earlier this year but a knee injury meant he took on a non-playing captaincy role in the inaugural season.
He hopes to be involved when the new season gets underway in February but had to consider a number of factors before eventually putting pen to paper with LIV back in July.
He told Bunkered: "It’s a new business and every new business has a really good chance of failing. So, do you want to put yourself in that situation or do you want to take a leap and not so much change the face of golf as add something new?
“Truthfully, I loved everything about the idea of it but it’s a scary thing when you have to actually sign your name. It’s like buying a house. When you look at how much that new house is costing, it’s like, ‘I don’t know if I should put my whole name on that.'
"There was nothing wrong with the product. There was nothing wrong with what they were giving us, what they were showing us and what they ultimately produced. It was just fear of the unknown, I guess."
Watson, who has publicly admitted he struggles with mental health in the past, also expressed his fears over facing abuse on social media, if he swayed from the PGA and DP World Tours.
He added: “In this day and age, it’s so easy to make up a fake name on social media and say what you want and there are no consequences. That’s what I was dealing with when I was trying to sign the paper. I was so worried about what people were going to say to me and think about me.
"I had a lot of conversations with my team and with my wife and, ultimately, we made the decision to go for it. I can honestly say that I’ve had nobody, face to face, say anything negative."
The 2023 LIV Golf season will get underway on February 24 in Mexico with Watson hoping to make his mark and add some more titles to his collection.
