Plenty of twists, turns for Watney in opening 65  Special to PGATOUR.com SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Nick Watney is learning fast, which is why the third-year pro from Las Vegas handled his roller-coaster experience at the Fry's Electronics Open on Thursday with such aplomb.  Nick Watney had an interesting first round at the Fry's Electronics Open. (Feldman/WireImage)
The good news was that Watney poured in 11 birdies at Grayhawk Golf Club without ever playing a practice round on the 7,125-yard, par-70 Raptor Course. That barrage tied him for most birdies in one round this season, equaling the previous best posted by Adam Scott during the second round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley. The bad news was that he made a "snowman'' (8) in the desert when he quadruple-bogeyed the par-4 seventh hole. That adventure into the saguaros and ocotillos (cactus) along with bogeys at the fifth and 17th holes kept Watney from breaking away from the pack in this PGA TOUR Fall Series event, as he settled for a 5-under-par 65. "For the most part, everything was pretty good today,'' said the 26-year-old Watney, who broke through earlier this season to record his first win at the Zurich Classic of News Orleans. "I hit a lot of good irons and made some nice putts. But there were a few not-so-good holes, also.'' Still, when you almost skipped the tournament, which Watney said he seriously considered, and your first round ever on the Raptor Course was a limbo contest, well ... "Maybe I've been doing it all wrong for the last three years,'' he said of showing up in Scottsdale at the last minute and then relying completely on his caddie, Tim Goodell, to steer him around. "I guess ignorance can be bliss.'' To fully understand how far Watney has traveled at the Fry's Electronics Open, consider what happened last week in his hometown, where he opened the "other Fry's'' -- the Frys.com Open -- with rounds of 67-65 and then skied to a pair of 76s on the weekend. "I don't know, it was just really tough to get motivated to come out here,'' Watney said after his blowup in Vegas. "I was really tired for some reason. But I'm glad I played now.'' No kidding. Watney started his round with four straight birdies, the shortest from 2 inches and the longest from 4 feet, 3 inches. That theme kept up pretty much throughout the day. "Actually, I had quite a few tap-ins,'' he said. "I would say that inside of five feet, there were six or seven, actually.'' Even his errant efforts found the cup, it seemed. "Yeah, my playing partner, Sean O'Hair, moved his coin (at the 16th), and my ball kind of banked off his coin and found the hole there,'' Watney said with a laugh. The only real downer was the 8 at No. 7, where Watney's ball was unplayable in the desert after a wayward drive but he couldn't take a drop because more trouble was within two club lengths. So he swung twice to get it back on the fairway, reached the green and promptly three-putted to seemingly get behind the 8-ball at even par through his first seven holes. As he went to the eighth tee, though, Watney said his mind raced back to last weekend and the lost opportunity. "I think I was trying to learn from that -- that I need to try to let things go as soon as possible,'' he said. "I made a few mistakes last week and really got frustrated, and it led to more and more of a problem. So I tried to let (the quadruple bogey) go as soon as possible, and things worked out for me.'' Immediately, in fact, as Watney rolled in birdie putts on four of the next five holes. When the dust settled, he had come within a shot of his career best. Asked how the Raptor Course at Grayhawk stacked up in its PGA TOUR debut, Watney said, "Today is probably not the best day to ask me that.
"The tough part, obviously, was the two par fives that were converted to par fours (Nos. 7 and 18). The easy part was the flags were in fairly easy spots, and not a ton of rough. So I guess it's kind of in the middle (of the courses) we play.'' Obviously, 2007 is shaping up to be a breakthrough season for the former Fresno State All-American, even if he doesn't necessarily agree. "I've putted pretty poorly for most of the year, so birdies have been scarce at times,'' said Watney, who despite his flat-stick woes sits 44th on the money list with $1,696,446. "But I'm working on that, so hopefully I'll start to make more.'' Either that, or just show up at the last minute and not play the course until the tournament gets under way. Hey, you never know. |
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