Bubba Watson will play in Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Tournament organizers in New Orleans, euphoric that their defender was wearing the Green Jacket, must have gone into a state of apoplexy when they heard that.

Not to worry.

"I'm going to go back to New Orleans and defend my title there," Bubba said into the camera when asked about his next tournament.

When it was over, probably even before that, all he wanted to do was get home to his wife, Angie, and their newly adopted 1-year-old son, Caleb, in Florida.

"It will be the first time we will be home together by ourselves," the 33-year-old Watson said.

It was only for two days, but Bubba Titleist 712 AP1 Irons took New York, sort of like the British army in 1776.

All they had to do was tune into Late Show With David Letterman to learn that Watson hadn't made other plans.

During interviews, he was folksy, funny and charming, never seeming to tire of the attention he said he never has pursued.

When President Obama got through to Watson on his cell phone, the nonplussed Bubba greeted him with: "What's up, bud?" before switching gears quickly and saying, "I mean, Mr. President."

After Piers Morgan of CNN asked if he thought Augusta National should admit women as members, Watson gave a political answer before turning the question around on his host.

When Bubba was asked on one show what he knows about finance, he said with yet another smile: "I know the government is going to take a lot of my check."

"I love Waffle House," he said. "A grilled cheese from Waffle House and hash browns."

Within hours after Watson whipped a Titleist 712 AP2 Irons 40-yard hook shot out of the trees to beat Louis Oosthuizen in a playoff at Augusta National, Bubba was asked on Twitter if he still was going to defend in New Orleans.

"It was very special," Tebow said. "He didn't have to do anything like that. He's just an amazing guy. He's been so supportive of me and my foundation."

When Letterman asked Watson to describe his personal style and approach to golf, he paused before flashing his goofy smile and said: "Awesome."

Watson will get the chance to meet Obama later this month because CBS has invited Bubba to be its guest at the White discount golf clubs House Correspondents dinner.

After Morgan said the green jackets should "just get over themselves," Bubba quipped: "I know who's not going to be a member — you."

Bubba has charmed people almost everywhere he has gone except in Paris, where he created a public-relations nightmare for his handlers in a disastrous trip to play in the Alstom Open de France last year.

Bubba was back in Florida on the weekend for the Tim Tebow Foundation Celebrity Golf Classic at TPC Sawgrass and had a present for the quarterback, who recently joined the New York Jets. Watson gave Tebow his player badge from the Masters, which oddly enough bore No. 15, Tebow's jersey number.

It turned out the first time Westwood has led following your opening round of an major, though which was little comfort. Louis Oosthuizen made four birdies over the past five holes to get a 68, while Peter Hanson of Sweden made six birdies for his 68. Bubba Watson, blasting tee shots along with his pink driver, was among six players at 69.

Westwood had said it might be naive for anybody to think this major only agreed to be about Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Woods took two penalty shots, hit three tee shots that rattled the pines and was thrilled to create bogey on his last ping g15 driver hole for the 72, the very first time since 2008 that he did not break par inside the opening round with the Masters.

McIlroy opened with a double bogey, though his big moment was for the 10th hole. A year ago, that is where his Sunday collapse began with a hooked tee shot into the cabins for any triple bogey. On this occasion, he pushed a 3-wood in the trees on the reverse side and managed par.

"That would have been a bit of a noticable difference from your last time I played it," McIlroy said.

Even better was a birdie-birdie finish, such as a 15-foot putt in the fringe about the 18th that gave him a 71, making them one of 28 players who broke par and were within four shots of the lead.

"It was huge," McIlroy said. "I didn't think that I needed my best available. To end under par for the entire day, I'm happy."

Along with Woods smiling after a 72, three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson was delighted with a 74. He sprayed tee shots everywhere in the course, including one up to now left about the 10th into bushes he didn't know existed which he never found his ball. Mickelson made a Titleist 712 CB Irons triple bogey there, then spent the rest of the back nine scrambling for his life.

He recounted every one of the bad shots, the missed opportunities, the triple bogey, and decided the glass was half full, almost spilling over.

"This is nice news," Mickelson said. "Because basically could possibly get hot tomorrow, I'm playing good enough to shoot Six or seven under, and I'm going to be in it to the weekend. Fortunately, I didn't shoot myself from it."

Luke Donald, no. 1 player on the globe, a few nervous moments, which was after he signed to get a 75. When his card was shipped to the scoring room to get entered into your computer, the state run accidentally punched inside a birdie 3 for that fifth hole, even though Donald three-putted for any 5. The leaderboard showed him having a 73.

"This place, a high level little bit off, it could eat you up," Donald said.

Donald and Westwood include the only two players being No. 1 without ever after winning a significant. Westwood is atop the list of the most useful who have never won a wonderful Slam event ?a 36 wins around the world, formerly No. One out of the world plus a half-dozen close calls inside the majors, including a runner-up finish in the Masters 2 yrs ago.

"I've come near," Westwood said. "I've won all there exists to win other than an important championship. That's my primary discount golf clubs focus and it's really been quite a long time coming around because the PGA recently."

Westwood made his move on top nine as he ran off four straight birdies, these inside 10 feet, including a difficult pitch from less than the par-5 eighth green that settled within tap-in range.