Watney hoping to forge his own identity on TOUR  PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- If there were a PGA TOUR look-alike contest, Nick Watney and Bill Haas would win first prize.  Nick Watney (Grayson/WireImage)
"On my first year, he was on the Nationwide Tour. People asked me how my dad was doing," said Watney, who does bare a striking resemblance to the younger Haas, the son of Champions Tour pro Jay Haas. "I mean, I like Bill, so it's no problem. "But hopefully I'll start playing well enough that people will know the difference." Watney certainly did that in the first round at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, shooting a 65 on Thursday for a share of the lead with Phil Mickelson and John Mallinger. Playing at Poppy Hills -- which he described as the "most shielded course of the three" -- Watney had six birdies, one eagle and a lone bogey in blustery and drizzly conditions. Despite what he called a "one-club wind," Watney shot his lowest score of the year. That's saying something, since he's already earned a tie for ninth at the Buick Invitational and a tie for 13th at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in 2007. "I hit the ball very well [on Thursday] but I've hit the ball well a couple times this year, just haven't made a lot of putts," he said. "So it was one of the best rounds." Born in Sacramento, Watney attended Fresno State University and has settled in the same city where he went to college. His parents, aunts and uncles and friends are all out to watch this week, since it's his closest tournament to home. "I've played this event the most of any TOUR event, so I feel comfortable here," said the soft-spoken Watney, who's made two out of three at Pebble Beach and tied for seventh in 2006. "I've got a lot of friends and family. With the pro-am, it is pretty relaxed out there, so it's fun." For the first three days of this tournament, each TOUR pro is paired with an amateur partner. Watney has some pretty big shoes to fill with his amateur, Jerry Chang, whose last partner was none other than Tiger Woods. "My friends were saying I didn't really have a chance to make an impression on him because he played with Tiger every year," Watney said. "And he told me he upgraded. I don't know if that's possible, but he was...really, really nice and I enjoyed playing with him." After winning the Nationwide Tour Championship in 2004, Watney vaulted to fifth on the Nationwide Tour money list to earn a spot on the PGA TOUR for 2005. In his rookie season, he had two top-10s but just barely ended up outside the top 125 on the money list. So he went to the 2005 PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament, where he tied for fifth and earned a higher status for 2006. Watney, whose six top-10s in 2006 placed him 75th on the TOUR money list, attributes his success in early 2007 to lots of practice in the offseason. "I worked with Butch [Harmon] over the winter, I worked pretty hard. I'm hitting the ball very well this year," the 25-year-old said. "I'm being pretty consistent and I think it's just getting comfortable. It's the start of my third year, so kind of learning the ropes and I've been in a few more situations." And maybe, come Sunday, he'll find himself in one place he hasn't been in on TOUR -- the winner's circle. |
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