Perfect day caps quick rise to PGA TOUR success for Watney  PGATOUR.com Correspondent AVONDALE, La. -- Midway through his rookie season on the PGA TOUR in 2005, Nick Watney was asked to describe what he considered a perfect day. A nanosecond later, Watney produced the perfect answer.  Nick Watney enjoyed a musical salute after his victory on Sunday. (Mike Ehrmann/WireImage)
"A late tee time followed by the trophy presentation,'' he said. It took Watney almost two years to come across that highly desirable scenario. But darn if he didn't experience it just outside New Orleans on Sunday. Watney was in the last pairing in the final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at the TPC Louisiana -- thanks to three successive rounds in the 60s that provided him with a two-stroke lead through 54 holes and marked him the player to beat over the course of the last 18 holes. "The bottom line,'' Watney said of being the hunted for the first time in his PGA TOUR, "is I have to go play a good round.'' Mission accomplished. Watney's final-round 69 was spiced by a marvelous and timely eagle 2 on the 428-yard, par-4 fifth hole just when it appeared that jangled nerves were going to play a serious part in the proceedings. It propelled him to a three-shot victory -- Watney's break-through first on the PGA TOUR -- over Ken Duke that was much closer than the final tally indicated. Quite a scene unfolded in the minutes after Watney signed his triumphant scorecard just three days before his 26th birthday. A jazz band started playing, leading Watney back onto the 18th green with a traditional second line. South Louisianans giddily tossed strands of purple, green and gold beads like it was Mardi Gras Day. And soon enough there was Watney, beads around his neck, clutching an oversized a check for $1,098,000 with a sterling trophy nearby. Perfect, indeed. "I'm so happy,'' the champion said, beaming. "I'm so proud. I'm really glad I came.'' Minutes before, Watney had the presence to pay tribute to the fans from New Orleans, who swarmed over the Pete Dye-designed golf course all week and seemed to be particularly fond of Watney as he went head-to-head with Duke, who was the Nationwide Tour's player of the year in 2006. "I know there was a big event here, a lot of destruction,'' Watney said, referring to the devastation wrought on New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005. "It's pretty remarkable you people have come back. And you bothered to come out here to a golf tournament. That's pretty impressive.'' The spectators ringing the 18th green roared their approval. Once again, simply perfect. Just like Watney's progression through the professional ranks. Fresh out of college at Fresno State and carrying a reputation as someone who eventually would become a big stick at the next level, Watney tried to take the Tiger route to the PGA TOUR, squeezing into the maximum events in The Big Show by using sponsor's invitations during the summer and fall of 2003. But he made only two cuts in eight events with a best of a tie for 10th at the Reno-Tahoe Open. By all accounts, he is a quick study. What he discovered in that brief tour of duty would serve him well in his maturation process as a professional golfer. "I was glad I played in a few events and it was an unbelievable experience, but I knew I wasn't ready,'' he said. "Some guys get their card right away and get beaten up when they come out here. In those few events I realized for the first time how good the players on the PGA TOUR really are.'' So off Watney went to the Nationwide Tour. He learned the hard way early, missing five of his first seven cuts. "But it was pretty obvious he wasn't missing a whole lot,'' said PGA TOUR Media Official Joe Chemycz, who worked the Nationwide Tour at that time. "He learned how to practice and when to relax.'' Watney made 17 of his last 18 cuts and finished with a flourish with a runner-up finish in the last regular-season event and a victory in the Nationwide Tour Championship to graduate onto the PGA TOUR. "I did okay but it also was a struggle,'' he said of his rookie season, when he finished 127th on the money list, but finished tied for fifth in the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. "I didn't press too much. I'm still figuring things out but I also haven't lost any patience with my game or myself. I knew it takes time to get used to everything so I wasn't worried. My aim was to be out here on the TOUR for a long time.''
Watney didn't win in 2006, but it was apparent his was a star on the rise. He had six top 10s and 11 top 25s, banking $1,243,816. Then he took care of business Sunday, playing his last 15 holes in 5 under par after he opened with nervous bogeys on the third and fourth holes. The bounce-back began on the fifth with his deuce. "You have to be lucky to hole one like that,'' Watney said. "It definitely was my week.'' One more two-shot swing on the par-3 14th hole -- Watney made birdie and Duke a bogey -- all but sealed the deal. And it was obvious Watney's was a popular victory among some of the younger players on TOUR. "Nick is the kind of guy you pull for,'' said Johnson Wagner, a rookie who played against Watney on the Nationwide Tour. "He is a genuinely nice guy.'' Brandt Snedeker, like Wagner a Nationwide Tour graduate in 2006, also offered praise for the freshly minted champion. "To me it's a miracle he had not won before today,'' Snedeker said. "He's got a ton of game and you won't find anybody out here who has something bad to say about him. He's the perfect kind of guy to be playing and winning on the PGA TOUR.'' And Watney did it on a perfect day. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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