Bunkmates: Bubba, war veteran sharing house

• By Jason Sobel
• Aug 21, 2012 4:25 PM ET

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Bubba Watson has a very special housemate for this week’s Barclays tournament.

The reigning Masters champion is staying in a house close to Bethpage Black that also includes his wife and son, his caddie and a war veteran named Nick Bradley.

Set up through Russ Holden, whose charitable work with the PGA Tour includes the Wounded Warrior Project, Watson has become fast friends with Bradley, who was seriously injured while serving in Afghanistan.

“He showed me a picture of the car that blew up,” said Watson, who is also sharing the house with another current military serviceman. “Basically I'm there just talking to them. I'm in awe of them, they're in awe of me, but I'm really just watching them and learning from them about how much they fight for our freedoms not knowing who we are, not knowing anything about us. They're out there taking bullets and dodging bullets for us to give us freedom to do what we do. It was an honor for me to stay with them and be a part of just communicating with them and talking with them and hopefully cheering them up a little bit when they get a little down.”

It’s not all serious at the Lloyd Harbor-based house this week, though. Owners Albert and Rebecca Haug aren’t present, but asked for photographic evidence that Watson was staying there.

He went one better Tuesday morning, filming a few videos of himself hitting golf balls from inside the house through a door and out onto an adjacent lake.

“I moved it indoors and hit off the rug,” he said. “The little railing is about 4-5 feet high, so hitting 4-wood off the tight carpet was a little tight, but I just got it up and made it out of the house. … I didn't break anything. I'm all right at golf sometimes.”