By John Dell
Special to PGATOUR.com

GREENSBORO, N.C. – With a nearly 30-degree difference in temperatures to go along with wind and rain, Nick Watney knew the second round of the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro would be a challenge.

But Watney’s grind-it-out, 1-under 71 was good enough to put him into the lead midway through Friday’s second round at chilly Forest Oaks Country Club. He sits at 9-under 135, one shot better than Ryan Palmer and John Senden.

Watney, a 25-year-old former All-American at Fresno State, survived the round by not making any major mistakes. He and his caddy, veteran Tim Goodell, agreed that the best course of action was to keep things simple. Along those lines Watney birdied the first two holes and had his lone bogey on No. 13.

“It felt like it was about 95 degrees (Thursday) and today I don’t think it got above 60,” said Watney, who is looking for his first PGA TOUR win. “And the wind and the rain really made it more difficult.”

Watney is in his second season on TOUR after not having much success in 2005. He missed making the top 125 on the money list and had to go back to qualifying school, but finished tied for fifth there to get his exempt status back.

He is comfortably inside the top 125 this year at 91st, and says he is ready to break through and win.

Nick Watney is seeking his first win on the PGA TOUR. (Cohen/WireImage)

“We still have another wave (of players) to go so I don’t know where I’ll stand at the end of the day,” Watney said. “But I’ve played pretty well so far and I just want to keep it going.”

Goodell says even though his player knows he will have a TOUR card next year he hasn’t relaxed.

“He’s not comfortable because he still has goals for this year so he hasn’t slipped into that at all,” said Goodell, who is in his third season with Watney.

Watney got off to a good start with birdies on the first and second hole to quickly move into lead by himself. He made a 4-footer for birdie on the first hole and then two-putted for birdie on the 557-yard second hole.

After that he made 10 straight pars, which included a solid save on the sixth hole. After missing the fairway on his drive he wound up 80 yards away for his third shot, but got up and down for the par.

He also made par saves on Nos. 14 and 17, something he said were big confidence boosters.

“Yeah, there’s no question because it really helps the round along,” Watney said. “Especially on a day like today where par is very good.”

His lone bogey came on the par-5 13th where he missed another fairway and wound up hitting a poor approach shot.

The closest Watney has come to winning this year was at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February where he was two shots off the lead with seven holes to go. He wound up finishing tied for seventh.

Watney also had a tie for fifth last month at the Reno-Tahoe Open.

“I definitely think he’s ready to win and can be one of those young guns,” Goodell said. “He’s only 25 but he’s showing so much improvement and poise I think he’s ready to step up for sure.”

One of Watney’s claims to fame is he played with Michelle Wie in last year’s John Deere Classic.

“It was definitely a circus,” Watney said. “A lot of people and media and all that but she handled it very well.”

Watney said what he learned was how it must be to deal with all those distractions while trying to play golf. “I don’t know how Tiger does it,” he said.

While Watney is going for his initial TOUR win, Palmer hopes to be in position on Sunday for his second career victory. In 2004 he won theFUNAI Classic at Walt Disney World Resort.

Palmer graded his early-season an A+, but has admittedly struggled late in the year. One reason for that could be the impending birth of his first child. Palmer’s wife, Jennifer, is due Feb. 12, and it’s something Palmer is already thinking a lot about.

“We’re getting excited about that,” he said.

Palmer didn’t let the rain conditions bother him on his way to the 65.

“It was one of those days where the holes were big and I was putting very well,” Palmer said. “I was able to sneak in six birdies and an eagle.”

His shot of the round was a 105-yard 50-degree wedge to the par-4 fifth hole. The ball took two bounces and went in for eagle. He also made plenty of long putts, including a 50-footer for birdie on No 11.

“I got about 200 feet of putts I made today,” he said about the difference between his first round of 71 and the 65 on Friday.

Editor’s note: John Dell is a sportswriter at the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal.