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Early 66 Puts Watney in the Hunt in Myrtle Beach

Early 66 Puts Watney in the Hunt in Myrtle Beach

Yahoo08-05-2025

Two 69's and Nick Watney would miss the cut on Friday in Dallas by a shot last week at The CJ Cup.
Two days later, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler would win his 14th time on the PGA Tour, shooting 31-under and winning by eight shots over South African Erik van Rooyen.
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Like Scheffler, Watney was a household name when he played his best golf and ranked as high as ninth in the world in 2011.
Nick Watney celebrates as his putt on the 18th hole falls to clinch his win on the 18th hole during the final round of the WGC - Cadillac Championship at TPC Blue Monster in May 2011.Allan Henry-Imagn Images
Granted, that was over 13 years ago, when Watney won his fifth and last time on the PGA Tour at The Barclays in 2012.
'It makes you think that you have a lot of room to improve for sure,' Watney said of Scheffler's performance. 'Obviously he's the standard of golf, and he was also on for the week, so it was impressive. At the same time it's motivating because you kind of see what is possible. I don't know if I'll ever -- obviously my time is not -- I'm not on the front end of my career, but at the same time, I think I still have some good stuff left.'
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Since winning, Watney has scrambled around the fringes of the PGA Tour, putting together good tournaments here and there but continuing to slide in the FedEx Cup rankings.
Eventually, losing his card and hoping a withdrawal by someone in the field or a sponsor's exemption would be in his future to play his next time on the PGA Tour.
The low point came in 2023 at the RBC Canadian Open, an 80-75 was enough for Watney to take a hard look in the mirror.
'I think part of the reason that I like struggled for a while was I wasn't honest with myself about it,' Watney said after a 5-under 66. 'I kind of thought, oh, man, either I'm close or got some bad breaks or something like that.'
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But reality sunk in and he realized, sitting in his hotel room on Friday after another missed cut, that what he was doing was not sustainable.
If he wanted to continue playing professional golf, he couldn't compete from the rough, trees, or from out of bounds.
At the same time, with four kids at home, he had to decide if it was worth leaving them if the result continued to be struggling with his game.
But Watney's passion has always been to play professional golf, and he decided to give it and himself another chance.
Working with swing instructor Scott Hamilton, Watney started to climb back out of the hole he had dug with his game.
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The driver was the primary concern, and once he got that under control, each phase of his game was analyzed and addressed if necessary.
Now, Watney is starting to get excited with his game.
Needing a WD from Webb Simpson to get a spot into this weeks opposite field event in Myrtle Beach, Watney took advantage and finds himself on the leaderboard after Thursday's first round.
In his last three individual events on the PGA Tour, the 44-year-old has been at par or better for all nine rounds, and if you add in the last Korn Ferry event, the number of rounds at or under par grows to 13.
'I think there will be a relearning thing, relearning phase, feeling things I haven't felt in a while, but at the same time I've done it before,' Watney said of how he will feel if his game continues to trend in the right direction over the next three days. 'You know, I don't think it will be completely foreign. Not to say that I'll handle it perfectly, but I would be looking forward to that whenever that comes because I play golf.'
Related: Rory McIlroy's Philosophy at Truist Championship: 'Hit Driver Everywhere'
Related: Final Round of Byron Nelson Brings an Injection of Adrenaline for Golf

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