LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England – Another major championship has Masters champion Bubba Watson feeling a bit perplexed.

Only this time, it’s not just because of the golf course.

“I haven’t seen the water yet,” Watson said Monday after his first practice round at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. “We’re really close to the water. My house is close to the water. But the water seems like it’s way away from the shoreline – like miles. Why is the water so far away? Like the beach goes for miles, and then the water is way out there. Can you answer that one?”

In these parts, that’s known as the tide.

This was Bubba having some fun on the first official day of practice, and he did well to escape the water that matters – the rain. Wet weather is in the forecast for much of the week in what has been a miserable summer of rain even by British standards, and Watson managed to get in 18 holes before the first big downpour.

He’s really not concerned about finding the water in the Irish Sea.

The bigger worry is trying to navigate through 206 bunkers that are littered across Royal Lytham & St. Annes, so many of them that Watson recited a few numbers that showed how much he was paying attention.

“Not that I counted, but there’s 17 (bunkers) on 18, and there’s nine on No. 1,” he said.

Watson only found two of them Monday, but it shaped his thinking for the week. He said he spent much of practice round thinking about where to hit the ball, not how far. That pink driver on display at Augusta National didn’t come out of the bag that much. In its place were a variety of irons, anything to stay short of the bunkers.

“It looks like we’re going to hit a lot of irons off of tees, try to play safer, smarter – whatever you want to call it – and just have a longer shot into some of these holes,” Watson said.

Even with four wins – including his first major in April – and talking about the unique style of play he calls “Bubba Golf,” Watson feels he has a lot to learn, especially in the majors.

He missed the cut at the U.S. Open playing with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, saying even before it started that Olympic Club was too hard for him.

Lytham is hardly a pushover.

Because of the wet spring, the native grass framing the fairways is so tall and thick and spotters have had a hard time finding the golf ball. Even if they do happen to find it, odds are the next shot won’t go far.

That’s why “Bubba Golf” this week might look a little conservative.

“I learned a lot at the U.S. Open watching Tiger, watching Phil, learning about strategy,” Watson said. “You know, the game is a tough game, so you’ve just got to learn and process this information and move on. I missed the cut there, but I feel good. I finished second the week after the U.S. Open. My game feels where it needs to be, but it’s all about executing the right shots at the right time and hitting them in the right place.”

The key is for his head to be in the right spot.