Range Goats GC captain Bubba Watson walked into LIV Golf's 2026 captains' press conference and delivered one of the more honest team assessments of the week, conceding that his squad had a forgettable 2025 on the course while insisting the group's culture was a genuine source of optimism heading into a new season.
Watson, speaking alongside fellow captains Cameron Smith, Ian Poulter and Louis Oosthuizen, said he wanted players who were engaged beyond just the tournament schedule. The two-time Masters champion framed his leadership role as being about life off the course as much as on it.
"I feel good. You know, I want guys that are energised and have fun, and I want to help them off the golf course. I'm not really worried about their golf."
That philosophy was tested through 2025, when the Range Goats finished well below expectations in LIV's team standings. Watson's public response has been to embrace the result rather than spin it, and teammates have previously praised the captain's willingness to take ownership of difficult moments.
Watson also gave a health update, noting that he is recovering well from a procedure to remove a non-cancerous bone cyst that had been affecting his play through the back end of last season.
"When I cut out the cyst, it wasn't cancerous, so that was good. But it was attached to the bone, so the bone has had to heal."
For a player who has spoken openly in recent years about balancing competitive golf with family priorities and mental health, the matter-of-fact update will be reassuring to fans who have watched his schedule contract since his LIV move. Watson has made no secret of the fact that he now plays because he wants to, not because he feels he has to, and his investment in team culture at LIV is a big part of that.
The Range Goats enter 2026 with a clear ceiling-raising goal. LIV's format rewards teams that stack multiple top-10 finishes across a season, and the group's 2025 struggles were not about having bad days — they were about lacking the rhythm to post several strong events in succession. Watson's answer is chemistry, on the belief that a team that enjoys the work will show up more consistently when it counts.
His remarks also carried a broader message about the LIV model. The captains' press conference format, where captains answer together about their squads, has become one of the league's most-watched set pieces. It gives players a chance to talk like team owners, and Watson used the platform to underline a point he has made repeatedly: relationships first, results second.
Whether Range Goats can convert that culture into leaderboard positions in 2026 remains the open question. What is clear is that the captain is not hiding from last year's results, and he arrives at the new season with both his honest message and his health pointing in the right direction.
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*Originally published on [Golf News](https://golfnews.global/article/bubba-watson-range-goats-honest-verdict-liv-2026). Visit for full coverage.*
