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Nick Watney

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Nick Watney
Watney at the 2011 Presidents Cup
Personal information
Full nameNicholas Alan Watney
Born (1981-04-25) April 25, 1981 (age 43)
Sacramento, California
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceLas Vegas, Nevada[1]
Career
CollegeFresno State University
Turned professional2003
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)Canadian Tour
Nationwide Tour
Professional wins9
Highest ranking9 (July 31, 2011)[2]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour5
European Tour1
Asian Tour1
Korn Ferry Tour1
Other2
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament7th: 2010
PGA ChampionshipT12: 2011
U.S. OpenT21: 2012
The Open ChampionshipT7: 2010

Nicholas Alan Watney (born April 25, 1981) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. The highlight of Watney's career is his victory at the 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship. In July 2011, Watney won the AT&T National and broke into the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time.[3]

Early career

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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.[1] 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

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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, 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, and it was won by the American team 19–15.

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. After Rory McIlroy won the second playoff event, Watney dropped to second in the standings and wound up in fourth place at the conclusion of the FedEx Cup playoffs. For the season, Watney finished in 22nd on the PGA Tour's money list.

In October 2012, after the PGA Tour season ended, Watney won the Malaysian CIMB Classic, an event on the Asian Tour (co-sponsored by the PGA Tour), with a final round, course-record 61.

In 2013, Watney 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. For the season, Watney finished 24th on the PGA Tour's money list.

In 2014, Watney finished fifth at the Wyndham Championship and eighth at the Barracuda Championship. With only two top-10s and five top-25s, Watney dropped to 106th on the PGA Tour's money list.

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. With three top-10s and eight top-25s, Watney rose to 55th on the PGA Tour's money list. Watney only played in five events the following season due to a herniated disc in his lower back. He played the 2016–17 season on a Major Medical Extension.

In 2018, Watney tied for second at the Wells Fargo Championship. Watney finished 88th on the PGA Tour's money list and finished 74th on the final FedEx Cup standings. He made 21 of 26 cuts.

On June 19, 2020, while playing in the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, Watney became the first PGA Tour player to test positive for COVID-19.[11]

Personal life

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Watney's cousin is journalist Heidi Watney.

Professional wins (9)

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PGA Tour wins (5)

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Legend
World Golf Championships (1)
FedEx Cup playoff events (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

Asian Tour wins (1)

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

1Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour, but unofficial event on that tour.

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

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Legend
Tour Championships (1)
Other Nationwide Tour (0)
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

Canadian Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runners-up
1 Aug 17, 2003 Lewis Chitengwa Memorial Championship 66-67-68-67=268 −20 5 strokes Canada Derek Gillespie, Scotland Alan McLean,
Mexico Alex Quiroz

Other wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Nov 20, 2005 Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational 69-72-61-68=270 −18 1 stroke United States Peter Tomasulo

Results in major championships

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Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament T11 19 7 46 T32 T13 T44
U.S. Open CUT T60 CUT 76 CUT T21 CUT CUT
The Open Championship T35 T27 T7 CUT T23 CUT CUT
PGA Championship CUT CUT T18 T12 CUT CUT T33 T30 T71
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

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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 9 5
Totals 0 0 0 0 2 9 31 19
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (2010 Masters – 2011 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 2007 2008 2009
The Players Championship CUT T63 CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
The Players Championship T17 T4 T56 CUT CUT CUT T37 CUT
Tournament 2020 2021 2022 2023
The Players Championship C T66 CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

World Golf Championships

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Wins (1)

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

Results timeline

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Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Match Play R16 R16 R16 R32 R64
Championship 2 T26 1 T17 T49 WD
Invitational T61 T36 T16 T23 T19 T44
Champions 5 T21 T33 T16 T31
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
WD = withdrew
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

U.S. national team appearances

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Amateur

Professional

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Nick Watney – Profile". PGA Tour. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  2. ^ "Week 31 2011 Ending 31 Jul 2011" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  3. ^ "Week 27 - Nick Watney Moves Into The World Top 10 With Victory At The AT&T National". Official World Golf Ranking. July 4, 2011. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  4. ^ Berkovich, John (August 22, 2005). "The journey of Nick Watney". e-sports.com. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2007.
  5. ^ Kaplan, Thomas (August 16, 2010). "Like 3rd-Round Leader, Round of 81 Is Lost in Shuffle". The New York Times. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
  6. ^ "Watney comes up big to win". San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. March 14, 2011.
  7. ^ "Nick Watney wins WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral". BBC Sport. March 13, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
  8. ^ "Week 11 – Nick Watney Wins The WGC-Cadillac Championship And Jumps To World Number 15". Official World Golf Ranking. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  9. ^ "Two-shot win for Watney". Sky Sports. July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  10. ^ Whitmer, Michael (June 14, 2012). "Notes: Nick Watney nails double eagle: Only the third one in Open history". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
  11. ^ Harig, Bob (June 19, 2020). "Watney 1st player on PGA Tour to test positive". ESPN. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
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