LIV Golf stars reaction after Bubba Watsons | Golf News

Bubba Watson had some harsh phrases for his LIV Golf teammates after a dismal 2025 season, and one of his RangeGoats has responded in the opening event of the season. 

The RangeGoats have been among the worst groups in the breakaway league last yr, with only Watson placing up a passable marketing campaign. While he completed eleventh in the season-long order of advantage, his teammates languished in the underside half of the standings. 

“I mean, it can’t get any worse,” the two-time Masters champion told Express U.S Sports last month. “I think we, the RangeGoats, have finished what, ninth or 10th, the last two years? So I’m looking forward to trying to challenge that, trying to be better than that.”

Uihlein has answered the call. The Massachusetts native has hovered around the top of the leaderboard at this week’s season-opener in Saudi Arabia.

The 36-year-old has thrived under the floodlights at Riyadh Golf Club, and he holds a share of the lead heading into Saturday’s ultimate spherical in the desert.

Uihlein is locked at 16-under-par with Australian rookie Elvis Smylie. Talor Gooch leads the chasing pack, lurking one shot off the lead. Jon Rahm is among three gamers two strokes back. 

With seven gamers within three pictures of the lead, Uihlein has a robust process on his fingers to keep atop the leaderboard. But it’s a big alternative to set the tone for the 2026 season. 

Unfortunately for Uihlein, his teammates haven’t been in a position to produce a comparable degree of play in Riyadh. Campbell (T36, -6), Watson (T51, -2) and Wolff (T53, E) don’t have anything to play for but prize money and personal satisfaction on Saturday, with the RangeGoats ninth in the staff standings, 22 pictures off the tempo set by leaders Torque. 

“It would be awesome [to win]. That’s what we want to do,” Uihlein said. “We want to win individually. We want to win as a team. The team might be out of it this week. Individual is the only thing I’ve got going for me.

“But winning individual would — yeah, that’s what the goal is is to win, and now that we get world ranking points, you can jump up in the OWGR and try and get in the majors. That’s definitely the goal. There are some unbelievable players out here, and to say you’ve won and beat them definitely would be pretty special.”