Nick Watney

Watney was born in Sacramento, California, and played high-school golf at Davis Senior High School in Davis, California. He competed under the watchful eye of his uncle, Mike Watney, at Fresno State University, where he was a three-time All-American golfer. Mike did not offer his nephew a scholarship to Fresno State; Nick had to walk-on to the team. Was the No. 1-ranked college player during his senior year, following four consecutive tournament wins in the fall season. Five wins during his senior year were more than any other player in the nation. He turned professional in 2003, following in the footsteps of his Uncle Mike, who played on the PGA Tour in the 1970s. Made his professional debut at the 2003 FBR Capital Open in Washington, D.C. in June. First professional win came at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial Championship on the Canadian Tour in August 2003. Finished 5th on the Nationwide Tour in 2004 to earn his PGA Tour card. His wife, Amber, is the niece of PGA Tour veteran Omar Uresti. Played on the 2011 Presidents Cup team.
2004 Nationwide Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 25; in money - 19; top-10 finishes - 8; stroke average 70.26 (ranked 11th); money $301,988 (ranked 5th); Winner, Nationwide Tour Championship.
2009 Notes: Won for the second time in his career and finished 12th in the Fedex Cup standings. Earned more than $3 million, almost twice as much as his previous career best.
2010 Notes: Another consistent year, finishing 27th on the money list with eight top-10 finishes. Failed to win in 2010, but played better, thanks to improvements in greens hit and putting.
2011 Notes: Had career-best 10 top-10 finishes and 16 top-25 finishes. Also had personal-best performances in the FedExCup (9th) and on the money list (3rd). Made 19 of 22 cuts, and recorded multiple wins in a season for the first time in his career. Compiled a 2-1-1 record for the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup squad, including a singles victory over K.J. Choi.
2012 Notes: Won during the PGA Tour playoffs at The Barclays, joining Vijay Singh, Steve Stricker, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose and Tiger Woods as the sixth player to win a WGC event and a FedExCup playoff event. Made 23 of 26 cuts, but his five top-10s were half the number of the year before. Finished 4th in the FedExCup standings and 22nd on the money list. Ended the year winning the CIMB Classic, an unofficial event on the PGA Tour.
2013 Notes: Started the season with a T-4th at the Farmers Insurance. Next top-10 was a T-10th at the Wells Fargo Championship. Missed the cut at the PGA Championship and Wyndham Championship, dropping him to 63rd in the FedExCup standings on the eve of the playoffs. Moved up with a T-9th at The Barclays. Finished T-35th at the Deutsche Bank, then climbed up again with a runner-up finish at the BMW Championship. Ended his year T-14th at the Tour Championship, 15th in the FedExCup standings and 24th on the money list.
Watney started feeling pain in his right wrist last summer. The discomfort lessened in the fall.
2014 Notes: At the beginning of the year, he started feeling soreness in his back and was forced to withdraw from the WGC-Cadillac, and take three weeks off leading up to the Masters. Made 17 of 25 cuts on Tour, with just two top-10s, T-5th at Wyndham Championship and T8th at Barracuda his fewest top-tens since 2008. Had played in every FedExCup Playoffs event from 2009-13 but missed the cut at The Barclays to end his season at 105th in the FedExCup standings and 106th on the money list.
2015 Notes: Played in 28 PGA Tour events making 18 cuts with 3 top-ten finishes. Was T-7th at the Farmers Insurance Invitational in his bid for his first victory since capturing the 2012 Barclays. The next week finished 2nd at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, three shots back of winner Brandt Snedeker. Opened the AT&T Byron Nelson with 67-65. Rebounded after a third-round 70 with a 65 Sunday to T-10th. Finished 58th in the FedExCup standings.
2016 Notes: After making five starts in 2015-16, the last being the Farmers Insurance Open, the season ended due to a herniated disc in his lower back. He could have had microdiscectomy surgery like Tiger Woods had in 2014 and 2015 to alleviate the pressure but instead opted for the rest and rehab routine, along with new targeted training.
2017 Notes: After resting his back and doing targeted exercises, he returned playing the Safeway Open and finishing T-35th. Watney played in 23 PGA Tour events making 14 cuts and he had 1 top-ten finish. That came at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans as he was teamed with Charley Hoffman to finish T-5th. His best finish my himself was T-13th at the Quicken Loans. Following a missed cut at The Northern Trust, the first of four FedExCup Playoffs events, his season ended at 120th in the final FedExCup standings.
2018 Notes: The back got better and he showed signs of the old Nick Watney at the Wells Fargo Championship, after an opening round of 72 shot 67-68 and played the final round in the final group with Jason Day. Watney shot 69 to finish T-2nd, 2 shots back of winner Jason Day. It marked his best showing on the PGA Tour since he finished 2nd at the 2015 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.