Two-time major golf champion forced out of competitive action until 2026

Bubba Watson has confirmed he will be out of competitive action for the rest of the year after having a minor procedure to remove a lesion on his finger. 

Watson, 46, will now miss two consecutive International Series events on the Asian Tour in the Philippines and Hong Kong this month. 

The LIV Golf left-hander took to social media to provide his unfortunate update to golf fans. 

Watson claims he developed a small growth on his left ring finger and it was causing him pain and affecting his ability to grip a golf club. 

His doctor confirmed the growth as a 'lesion' and recommended the two-time Masters champion to have a minor procedure.

The RangeGoats GC captain followed doctor's orders and had it removed. 

Watson is now having to rest and recover to get himself back to full fitness ahead of the new LIV Golf League season, which begins in Saudi Arabia from 5-7 February 2026. 

He will now have to unfortunately miss scheduled consecutive events this month and the remainder of the Asian Tour's International Series, which is backed by LIV Golf. 

"Life/golf update," Watson captioned his latest social media post including a photo of his bandaged finger and a graphic with more information about his injury.

The graphic on Watson's post read: 

"In recent weeks, I developed a small growth on my left ring finger that has been causing me pain and affecting my ability to grip a golf club the way I want.

"My doctors referred to it as a 'lesion' and recommended a minor procedure to have it removed, which I have done. Because of the location and depth of the cuts, which are around a joint, the procedure is expected to prevent me from playing golf for up to 8 weeks while I recover and rehab my finger.

"I had been looking forward to playing the International Series Philippines and the Link Hong Kong Open this month and I'm disappointed that I will miss those events. But I'm glad to know this is only a short term setback.

"I would like to thank the tournaments for being so understanding of the situation. I am grateful for their support and well wishes for my recovery. I look forward to getting back to form and ready to play in time for the 2026 LIV Golf season with my RangeGoats."

Watson's RangeGoats GC comprises himself, Peter Uihlein, Matt Wolff and Ben Campbell. 

The team finished 10th out of 13 in the season-ending 2025 Team Championship. 

Watson's best finish was an impressive runner-up finish at LIV Golf UK at JCB in July.

Watson finished the season strongly with his own ball recording four top-10 finishes in his last eight events of the LIV Golf season. 

That saw him finish the regular season in a respectable 11th place.

It marked a big improvement on the 2024 LIV Golf season when Watson was considering the possibility of stepping down from the team after finishing in the relegation zone.

Watson was able to use a "business reason" loophole in the rules since he was a captain in order to continue playing in 2025.

He competed in one major in 2025 at The Masters, a tournament he is able to always play in having won at Augusta National in 2012 and 2014.

Watson performed admiraly too, finishing on 3-under par in T14. 

Despite winning 12 times on the PGA Tour during his career, Watson has yet to register an individual victory since joining LIV Golf in 2022. 

Watson received an invite to compete in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie on the DP World Tour two weeks ago where he was joined by his wife Angie.

The two-time major champion finished the eventual 54-hole event in T40 following rounds of 68, 69 and 72. 

He then returned home to sort his finger out.