Nick Watney

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Nick Watney
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name Nicholas Alan Watney
Born (1981-04-25) April 25, 1981 (age 43)
Sacramento, California
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence Henderson, Nevada[1]
Career
College Fresno State University
Turned professional 2003
Current tour(s) PGA Tour
Former tour(s) Canadian Tour
Nationwide Tour
Professional wins 10
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 5
Asian Tour 1
Web.com Tour 1
Other 3
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament 7th: 2010
U.S. Open T21: 2012
The Open Championship T7: 2010
PGA Championship T12: 2011

Nicholas Alan Watney (born April 25, 1981) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. The highlight of Watney's career to date is his victory at the 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship. In July 2011, Watney broke into the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career, after his victory at the AT&T National, placing him tenth in the world.[2]

Early career

Watney was born in Sacramento, California. He played his high school golf at Davis Senior High School in Davis, California. He played collegiate golf under his uncle Mike Watney at Fresno State University, where he was a three-time All-America golfer.[3] Mike did not offer his nephew a scholarship to Fresno State; Nick had to walk on to the team. He turned professional in 2003, following in the footsteps of his uncle, who played on the PGA Tour in the 1970s.[4]

Professional career

In 2003, Watney's first professional victory came at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial on the Canadian Tour. The next year he played on the Nationwide Tour, and after winning the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship, Watney earned qualification for the PGA Tour.

In 2007, after two years of slow progress, Watney won his first PGA Tour title at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. This victory took Watney into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time. He got his second tour win at the 2009 Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, with a one-stroke victory over John Rollins, taking him to his highest position yet in the World Golf Rankings, number 76.

In the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, Watney had a three-shot lead going into the final round. However, he shot a final round of 81, which dropped him back to a tie for 18th place.[5]

Watney won the biggest tournament of his career to date and his first World Golf Championship at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in March 2011. He entered the final round trailing by two strokes, but shot a final round 67, including a run of four birdies in five holes in the middle of the round, and finished with a birdie at the notoriously difficult 18th, to record a two-stroke victory over compatriot Dustin Johnson.[6] Watney admitted in an interview afterwards that he had dwelt on finishing 2nd at Doral, in the same tournament two years before, when his putt on the 18th finished a couple of inches short of the hole.[7] After the victory, Watney moved up to number 15 in the World Golf Rankings.[8]

In July, Watney won for the second time in 2011 at the AT&T National by beating K. J. Choi by two strokes. The victory owed much to his third-round score when he set a course record 62 around Aronimink Golf Club, beating the previous record set coincidentally on the same day, which Chris Kirk and Steve Marino held briefly with joint 63s. Watney shot a 27 on the back nine, which tied the second lowest nine-hole score ever recorded on the PGA Tour. The record is held by Corey Pavin who shot 26 at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee in 2006. During the final round Watney did not record a single bogey, making a number of crucial par saving putts to hold off the challenge of Choi and capture his fourth PGA Tour title.[9] This win took Watney to the top of the FedEx Cup standings, ahead of Choi, and into the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career. He finished the 2011 season ranked third on the PGA Tour money list.

During the 2011 President's Cup, he defeated K. J. Choi on the final day to give the United States team a distinct advantage over the International Team coached by Greg Norman. The four-day match play tournament was played in Melbourne, Australia.

During the first round of the 2012 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club, Watney made a double eagle on the par-five 17th hole to become only the third man to record a double eagle in U.S. Open history, the others being Chen Tze-chung in 1985 at Oakland Hills and Shaun Micheel in 2010 at Pebble Beach.[10]

In August 2012, Watney won the first of the four FedEx Cup playoff events, The Barclays, at Bethpage Black in New York. He came from two behind in the final round to win by three strokes over Brandt Snedeker to take the outright lead in the FedEx Cup standings. This was the first playoff event victory of his career. After Rory McIlroy won the second playoff event, Watney dropped to second in the standings.

In 2013, Watney won the CIMB Classic and finished second at the BMW Championship, fourth at the Farmers Insurance Open, ninth at The Barclays and tenth at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and the Wells Fargo Championship.

In 2014, Watney finished fifth at the Wyndham Championship and eighth at the Barracuda Championship.

In 2015, Watney finished second at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, seventh at the Farmers Insurance Open and tenth at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Personal life

Watney's cousin is journalist Heidi Watney.

Professional wins (10)

PGA Tour wins (5)

Legend
World Golf Championships (1)
FedEx Cup playoff event (1)
Other PGA Tour (3)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Apr 22, 2007 Zurich Classic of New Orleans 69-67-68-69=273 −15 3 strokes United States Ken Duke
2 Feb 8, 2009 Buick Invitational 69-69-71-68=277 −11 1 stroke United States John Rollins
3 Mar 13, 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship 67-70-68-67=272 −16 2 strokes United States Dustin Johnson
4 Jul 3, 2011 AT&T National 70-69-62-66=267 −13 2 strokes South Korea K. J. Choi
5 Aug 26, 2012 The Barclays 65-69-71-69=274 −10 3 strokes United States Brandt Snedeker

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Oct 31, 2004 Nationwide Tour Championship 69-64-71-69=273 −15 3 strokes United States Brett Wetterich

Asian Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Oct 28, 2012 CIMB Classic1 71-65-65-61=262 −22 1 stroke United States Robert Garrigus, United States Bo Van Pelt

1 Co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour, but unofficial money event.

Canadian Tour wins (1)

  • 2003 Lewis Chitengwa Memorial Championship

Other wins (2)

Results in major championships

Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Masters Tournament DNP T11 19 7 46 T32 T13 T44 DNP
U.S. Open CUT T60 CUT 76 CUT T21 CUT CUT DNP
The Open Championship T35 DNP T27 T7 CUT T23 CUT CUT DNP
PGA Championship CUT DNP CUT T18 T12 CUT CUT T33 T30

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 1 4 7 7
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 3
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 2 7 4
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 4
Totals 0 0 0 0 2 9 30 18
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (2010 Masters – 2011 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

World Golf Championships

Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin of victory Runner-up
2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship 2 shot deficit −16 (67-70-68-67=272) 2 strokes United States Dustin Johnson

Results timeline

Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Accenture Match Play Championship DNP DNP DNP R16 R16 R16 R32 R64
Cadillac Championship DNP DNP 2 T26 1 T17 T49 WD
Bridgestone Invitational T61 DNP T36 T16 T23 T19 T44 DNP
HSBC Champions – – 5 T21 T33 T16 T31 DNP
  • DNP = Did not play

WD = withdrew

  • QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
  • "T" = tied
  • Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
  • Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

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External links

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