Nick

Watney

The California native, playing this season on a Top 50 Career Money Exemption, is making his third Rocket appearance after a T46 at the inaugural in 2019 (64-72-69-74), and a missed cut by eight last year (74-75). He arrived 109th in the FedExCup standings and off 12 consecutive missed cuts, and is in the top 10 after R1 for a third time this season in 28 events, first since the Wells Fargo (TPC Potomac) nine starts ago, where he was (also) T8 before missing the cut by two (66-76). Beginning on 10 tee, the 41-year-old squared two bogey-5s at 12 and 18 (3-putt from 50'5"), outflanked by five circles at 10, 11, 5, 6 and 7, and an eagle-3 at 17 from 17'9", gaining 2.605 strokes tee-to-green and 1.072 on-the-green.

Watney is 9-for-19 on the season but sits inside of the top 85 in the FedExCup race, largely thanks to a runner-up finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship in the fall. More recently, he’s missed the cut in four straight events. Gamers should remove him from all weekly lineups and probably take the wait-and-see approach before considering a reinvestment in any format.

Watney opened his day with a par-saver from six feet and that was the trend of the front nine. He splashed home five putts from outside of six feet before making the turn. He didn’t run out of putting fuel after the turn, though, as he added a 42'7" birdie bomb at the 12th and a 28'4" birdie blast at the 14th. Watney walked off the course gaining 3.848 strokes putting today. With this round, Watney extends his flawless record at PGA National where he is now 9-for-9 with a trio of top 25s.

Opening with a tie for 30th-place at the Fortinet Championship, the 40-year-old went to the Sanderson Farms Championship with some confidence. Gaining nearly 12-strokes with the putter in hand, Watney finished runner-up to Sam Burns at Country Club of Jackson. Making his next two cuts at the Shriners Children’s Open and the Bermuda Championship, Watney was unable to continue this stretch into the final parts of 2021. Missing his final three cuts of the year, Watney fell short on the greens as his ball-striking was still apparent. Now making his 12th American Express appearance, if able to find his touch on the greens, Watney has the capabilities of collecting a paycheck in Palm Springs. The Fresno State product is set to begin his tournament tomorrow at La Quinta Country Club at 9:10 a.m. PST alongside Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

Watney split 8-of-14 fairways and landed 11 greens today while dealing with extreme winds all morning. “The conditions were real tough. I think the Tour did a really nice job of setting the course up to where it was playable with this much wind, you know, because there are just shots that were really scary, difficult. I thought they did a nice job with the setup of the golf course. It’s just one of those days where you’ve really got to just buckle down and just try to keep the ball in front of you.” Watney was the first golfer to record an under-par round today. Playing his 13th round of the season, the 40-year-old has now been T56 or better after 11 of those rounds.

Having shown flashes last season with three consecutive top-50 finishes in late July, Watney found a different gear once the calendar turned to fall. Capturing a top-30 finish at the Fortinet Championship, the 40-year-old was in the thick of things two weeks later at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Finishing runner-up to Sam Burns at Country Club of Jackson, Watney has since connected on another weekend showing at the Shriners Children’s Open. Looking to continue this strong stretch of golf, Watney makes the trek to the Bermuda Championship for the second time in his career. Carding a two-round total of 2-over 144, the California native missed the cut in his lone appearance in 2020. Arriving in much better form this time around, one should not be surprised if he figures out Port Royal GC and puts together yet another quality start.

The 40-year-old, playing this season on a career money exemption (Top 50), falls to 1-for-7 as a 36-hole leader/co-leader but does rally on Sunday for his 11th career podium in 421 events, first since T2 at the 2018 Wells Fargo 82 starts and 3 years, 5 months ago. This was his fifth SFC and second top 10 (T8, 2006), and records his first top-10 finish since T10 at the 2019 Safeway. For the week, the Fresno State alum carded rounds of 65-66-71-65, totaled one eagle and 24 birdies against three bogeys and a double, and ranked 28th in SG: Off-the-Tee (1.146), 51st in SG: Approach (-0.103), 50th in SG: Around (-0.858), 1st in SG: Putting (11.658), and 49th SG: Tee-to-Green (0.181). In R4, he circled seven birdies on 16 greens in regulation, losing 0.619 strokes tee-to-green but posting a sterling 5.035 SGP with 27 total putts, converting five scoring chances from between 11 and 25 feet, and also saving par two times from between 14 and 16 feet. The Las Vegas resident is in the published field at the upcoming Shriners at TPC Summerlin. See link below to post-round comments.

After kicking off with 65-66, the 40-year-old co-led with Theegala and playing competitor Will Zalatoris (72). It was his first 36-hole lead/co-lead since the opposite-field Barracuda in 2014 (155 starts ago), and was holding his own until a sloppy, 1-putt double bogey-6 at 16. The Fresno State alum was 3-under thru 14 holes, highlighted by back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 (32'4"), but missed a hat-trick birdie at 15 from 6'1", and then ate the double at 16, where he pull-hooked his tee ball into the penalty area and was forced to play out sideways. On eight (of 14) fairways and 11 greens in regulation, he gained 0.371 strokes on-the-green but lost 0.142 off-the-tee, 1.489 on approach, 0.824 around, and posted a -2.224 SG: Tee-to-Green.

The 40-year-old, playing this season on a Top 50 Career Money Exemption, co-leads with Zalatoris (61) and overnight leader and rookie Sahith Theegala (67). This is his seventh career 36-hole lead/co-lead in 421 events, previously 1-for-6 converting (2012 Barclays), and first since the opposite-field Barracuda in August, 2014, where he led by 3 points (Modified Stableford) before fading to T8. On two (of 14) fairways and 16 greens in regulation, the Fresno State alum lost 0.844 strokes off-the-tee but gained 1.800 approaching, 0.404 around-the-green, and 2.349 on-the-green. He squared a lone bogey-5 at hole 9, outpaced by seven circles at 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 12 and 15, two from between 10 and 33 feet. At the midpoint, the Las Vegas resident’s best strokes gained rankings are 2nd in SG: Putting (6.139) and 21st SG: Approach (2.400). See link below to post-round comments.

Watney used his driver efficiently to gain 1.05 strokes off-the-tee despite landing just 8-of-14 fairways. From there, he steadied 15 greens and let his putter do the talking. By day’s end, the Fresno State product had splashed home four putts from outside of 12 feet. That included a 45'11" eagle bomb at the par-5 third hole. Watney walked off the course gaining 3.7 strokes putting which is his best measured putting round since round four of the 2017 Honda Classic (+3.9 SGP). The 40-year-old is playing this season on a top 50 career earnings exemption, something he had to pull out of his bag of tricks after settling for 204th in the FedExCup race last season.