Nick Watney – All is well at the Wells Fargo Championship
Dr Morris Picken’s of the Sea Island Golf Learning Center has several PGA Tour clients making a move going into the weekend at the Wells Fargo Championship. Stewart Cink went 65 – 69 for his current T3 and Nick Watney shot 68 – 64 to lead by one shot.
NICK WATNEY
Q. 8 under par 64. Tell us about this magical day for you.
NICK WATNEY: Well, I played great. I hit the ball probably the best I have all year. I putted well, and I’m very, very pleased. But we’re only halfway done, so I’m really looking forward to the weekend.
Q. Talk about the eagle at 15. That was about a 41 footer you threw in there?
NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I haven’t made a lot of those this year, so that was exciting. It’s always nice to make eagles, especially here. Definitely very pleased with that hole.
Q. And you had a chance at 16. You hit a great shot out of the fairway bunker, had a chance there, just lipped out. 17 you came close on a 50 footer, even at 18. Last three holes you still had more chances.
NICK WATNEY: Yeah. For as well as I hit it, I made the putts I should have made, but still left a few out there, which I guess you can always say in this game. Very excited for the weekend, and I’m pleased with the way I’m playing.
Q. Why are you guys eating up this golf course this week, because I think for the first time ever the cut is going to be under par, maybe 1, 2 under par. Why so many good scores?
NICK WATNEY: I think the greens are pretty soft and they’re very, very good. So if you hit a putt on line it’s going to go in. I guess there’s not as much rough as maybe we usually have. Combine not much rough with really good, soft greens, and usually the scores are pretty low.
Q. A 66 on the day. Can you talk about it?
NICK WATNEY: Well, this was just really, really good ball striking. I hit a bunch of shots close. I hit it on a few par 5s, so I’m very pleased with that. I putted well, but I wasn’t making it from 30 feet all day.
Q. You’ve been talking about a lack of consistency all season long. How do you extend this into the weekend?
NICK WATNEY: Well, I think last week was a wake up call for me, and I’ve worked really hard these five days leading into this event, and I think it just shows I’m making progress. Who knows what’s going to happen this weekend, but I’m really excited for it. I think we’re just more hard work, and hopefully I’ll be in this position a lot more.
Q. As far as the weekend, you’re going out late. Does that help mentally? Does that help you get ready because you know you’re going out late and you’re going out on a course that’s been walked on by everybody?
NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I think that’s where everybody wants to tee off. It’ll be great. You know, I’m looking forward to it, like I said. I haven’t been in this position as much as I would like recently. I’m very excited, and I’m ready to go.
Q. Any birdies that stand out today?
NICK WATNEY: Well, the 12th hole is a difficult drive for me, and I was able to get balls in the fairway and birdie there. And then the eagle at 15, I made about a 40 footer, so those are always a bonus.
Q. Talk about that eagle putt that you made there. Those aren’t easy.
NICK WATNEY: Yeah. Well, the flag is kind of it’s in a really the green is big, but the place where the flag is is very small. I hit a good shot on the green, but finally read one right and was able to make it.
Q. Were the greens receptive to your shots today?
NICK WATNEY: Yeah, the greens are pretty soft, which I think is why the scores are pretty low. I’m sure they’ll I don’t know if it’s with the heat they don’t want to lose them or what the case may be, but I’m sure they’ll firm up a bit on the weekend.
Q. Just talk about playing with Webb today. You may end up being paired with him tomorrow or close to it.
NICK WATNEY: Yeah, it’s fun. He’s a great host, definitely. His house is just right down the street, and we’ve had a lot of fun this week. Just to play with him tomorrow would be fun.
Q. Who’s been doing all the cooking? Something must be working there at the house.
NICK WATNEY: Actually I don’t think we’ve cooked once. Webb barbecued on Monday night. It was my wife’s birthday and Jason Day’s wife’s birthday, so Webb barbecued that night. But other than that, we’ve just been grabbing something quick, just hanging out. They have a son.
Q. He joked that he was going to go home, beat you home and turn the AC off. Do you have any plans tonight?
NICK WATNEY: I don’t know. I mean, it’s a pretty early morning. We may just hang out. I’m pretty sure he’s going to stay at the house, too, so he can’t turn it too hot.
Q. You had to take out the trash yesterday?
NICK WATNEY: I did, yeah, high score, so I can relax today.
Q. He shot 68, so he’s got to take it out??
NICK WATNEY: He’s got to take it out. I got a 68 yesterday and had to take it out. So far it’s been a tough house.
Q. And then Ben is like next door or a couple houses away?
NICK WATNEY: Yeah, apparently as the crow flies he’s really close, but to drive you kind of have to go around. But yeah, as far as I know, he’s pretty close.
Q. You have to shoot 66 to get on that street, I guess. ?
NICK WATNEY: Yeah (laughing).
Masters Week – Dr Morris Pickens well represented
Dr Morris Pickens of the Sea Island Golf Learning Center is on site at Augusta National this week working with several of his players including 2007 Masters Champion – Zach Johnson, 2009 US Open Winner – Lucas Glover, 2009 British Open Champion – Stewart Cink and his most recent student to receive an invitation to the Masters after winning his first PGA Tour event, the 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open Champion – Kyle Stanley. Thanks to Helen Ross with PGATOUR.COM for this insightful story about Kyle Stanley and his practice makes perfect attitude.
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
AUGUSTA, Ga. — When he was growing up, one of Kyle Stanley’s favorite players was Vijay Singh.
Small wonder, then, that he gained a reputation for a work ethic similar to the Fijian when he went to school at Clemson. In fact, one of the reasons he decided to play for the Tigers was that head coach Larry Penley had built a lighted practice range near the football field.
“You could pretty much practice whenever you wanted,” said Stanley, who remembers hitting balls on the range as late — or as early — as 3 a.m. “It was pretty cool.”
That said, Stanley, who punched his ticket to the Masters in February when he made the Waste Management Phoenix Open the first win of his PGA TOUR career, didn’t always have that kind of affinity for the practice range. In fact, Stanley remembers a heart-to-heart with his dad after he missed the cut at Washington’s state high school tournament.
“We had a four- or five-hour drive back (from Spokane to Gig Harbor),” Stanley said. “I remember just talking to my dad and he just kind of explained to me, listen, if you want to be really good, if you want to be one of the best players in the world, you know you’re going to have to work at it.”
Stanley said he made the transformation “pretty quickly.” The hard work paid off, too, with a scholarship to Clemson where he earned All-America honors and played on the Walker Cup team. After another speedy transition that included one year on the Nationwide Tour, he found himself on the same range with Singh.
“I’ve always loved golf,” said Stanley, who shaved off his beard on Monday morning. “It’s always kind of been my biggest passion. … But it is one of those deals where you just kind of have to figure out what your priorities are, and once I did that, it just really gave me something to focus on.”
He’s so focused now that Stanley will even shyly admit to leaving the course, then turning the car around so he can return to the range and hit one last, good, shot.
“I always want to finish off a practice session on a good note,” he said grinning. “It’s probably a little bit of an OCD thing, to be honest.”
Stanley came to Augusta National last week prior to playing in the Shell Houston Open to learn the nuances of the course and get used to the “aura” of the Masters. He played here as a sophomore at Clemson but that hardly prepared Stanley for what he’ll face this week.
“There are a lot of subtleties here especially on the greens,” said Stanley, who ranks 159th in strokes gained putting. “I don’t think it matters where you’re from; you still have to learn them. You can’t really do it in one or two days. That’s why I came in last week prior to the event and spent a lot of time on these greens. I don’t think you can ever get too comfortable on them. They are very difficult.”
Stanley, who ranks sixth on TOUR in driving distance, certainly has the length to play Augusta National, though, and he’s 12th in greens in regulation. He says he’s happy with his play tee-to-green but has put extra time in on his wedge game and his putting leading up the the Masters.
One area of his game Stanley shouldn’t be worried about is resiliency, though. After all, this is a man who squandered a five-stroke lead in the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open but rebounded seven days later in coming from eight strokes off the pace on Sunday to win in Phoenix.
“I knew probably the biggest thing that I was going to take out from it was I just kind of challenged myself to see if I could put it behind me,” Stanley said. “I think probably the biggest thing I learned was just mentally maybe I’m a little bit tougher than I thought I was.”
Dr Mo to Nick Watney – “Forget the Tiger Stuff”
Courtesy: Golf Channel – Nick Watney has never played Tiger Woods at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, although he’s weathered an equally tough draw playing, and beating, Lee Westwood the last two years on Day 2.
In fact, since Watney joined the Tour in 2005 he’s been paired with Woods just once, during the third round at the 2010 WGC-HSBC Champions where he shot 73 to clipped Woods by a stroke.
“I just told him to pay more attention to himself than Tiger and not get caught up in all the Tiger stuff,” said Dr. Morris Pickens, Watney’s sports psychologist. “Have fun with it, a lot of people would love a chance to play Tiger.”
Had he been inclined, Watney could have also talked with swing coach Butch Harmon, who worked with Woods earlier in his career and famously advised pupil Phil Mickelson on some of Woods’ strategies during matches and head-to-head pairings, like putting out first so his opponent must deal with the large galleries that begin jockeying for positions on the next hole.
The two tee off at 11:37 a.m. (MT) at Dove Mountain and, for the record, Watney is the higher-seeded player.
Kyle Stanley – Final Round Interview Farmers Insurance Open
Kyle Stanley led the tournament in birdies, making 25. In the first three rounds, he never went more than five holes without a birdie but his last birdie of the final round came on the 9th hole. He played the back 9 in 5 over 41 including an 8 on the par 5 18th. Below is Kyle’s final round interview from the PGA Tour media center at Torrey Pines. (Courtesy: PGATOUR.COM)
JOE CHEMYCZ: We welcome Kyle Stanley to the interview room. Kyle, I know it was a difficult day. It’s not the way you wanted to finish. But I know there were a lot of positives out there this week and today. Maybe just talk about those and we’ll chat about the playoff really quick.
KYLE STANLEY: Yeah, I played well. I played really well all week. Obviously, not the finish I wanted. But I think I’ve got to focus on the good things I did.
JOE CHEMYCZ: Talk about the playoff. Well, let’s go back to 18 and the end of regulation and the wedge shot there at 18.
KYLE STANLEY: Yeah, we tried to lay it up close enough so that we wouldn’t put that much spin on it. I think we had 70, 80 maybe to the pin. Thought I had a pretty good shot but just had too much spin.
Q. How do you deal with the emotions of this? How difficult is it?
KYLE STANLEY: I don’t know right now. It’s tough. I mean, it’s really tough to take.
Q. You hit a couple of putts so fast. You didn’t seem to take any time. The one on 18 and even the one on 16, is that normally how you do it, or do you wish you had maybe stepped back a couple times?
KYLE STANLEY: No, not really. I think sometimes I tend to take too much time. The one on 16 almost had the same putt in regulation. So I knew what it did. I just had a little too much pace.
Q. Did you think both of them were going in when you hit them? The one on 18 and the last one or not?
KYLE STANLEY: The one on 18 just broke left. The one on 16 in the playoff, I just hit it too hard.
Q. And did you think you’d have as much emotion as you did going into 18? Were you nervous at all? Could you tell going up that final hole?
KYLE STANLEY: No, I wasn’t very nervous. Looking back, I don’t really know what I was thinking. It’s not a hard golf hole. It’s really a pretty straightforward par?5. I could probably play it a thousand times and never make an 8.
Q. You made a lot of great saves out there. Up until 18 tee or even the second shot, were you proud of yourself for that? I mean, you really grinded out there. You missed some short ones, but you made some incredible putts. How did you feel about what you had accomplished up to that point?
KYLE STANLEY: I felt pretty good. I didn’t hit it very well on the back. I made a nice par save on 14 to get up and down on 15, another really good putt on 16 for par.
Those really kept me in it. Then I guess the birdie putt on 17, I thought I made. I think I had a five or six hole stretch there where I hit really good putts.
Q. On the putt on 18, the downhill putt, Huh had gone before you, made it. What were you thinking speedwise, and where were you thinking leavewise? Did you want to leave it below the hole? It’s tough there because of the water.
KYLE STANLEY: I don’t know about that. He gave me the perfect lie. We knew what the putt did, I just didn’t hit it hard enough.
Q. Your third shot into 18 in regulation when the ball was in the air, did you think it was a pretty good shot and were you shocked that it rolled all the way back in?
KYLE STANLEY: Yeah. I think I landed it — I had to land it 15, 20 feet past it. I didn’t think it was going to spin that much.
Q. What did you use?
KYLE STANLEY: Sand wedge.
Q. Can you talk about the gut check that you have to go through in the last 20 minutes, 30 minutes? And also, sort of ironic, the same day that this happens, your idol also did not hit the winner’s circle. It shows it’s just not easy, is it?
KYLE STANLEY: Yeah, I mean — I know I’ll be back. I’m not worried about that. It’s just tough to swallow right now. I just need to be patient. One of my goals coming into this year was to just keep putting myself in position, and I’ll do that.
Kyle Stanley – First Round 62
LA JOLLA, Calif. –
Kyle Stanley made eagle on his final hole for a 10-under 62, his best score in two years on the PGA Tour. Levin shot 29 on the back nine and had a 62, matching his career best on tour, as they claimed a share of the lead after the first round. (Below is the interview transcript after the first round 62, courtesy PGATOUR.COM)
KYLE STANLEY: It was good. You know, I know it was a 62, but it was a pretty boring round of golf. Hit a lot of greens and made a lot of putts.
DOUG MILNE: Take us through the eagle on the last, just your clubs and so forth.
KYLE STANLEY: Yeah, I hit driver off the tee really well. I got 173 to the pin, and made a little cut 8.
DOUG MILNE: 8, wow, that’s impressive. Okay, with that, we’ll take a few questions.
Q. Are you surprised to be sitting here with this score today, or did you feel like you were playing this way coming into the tournament?
KYLE STANLEY:I didn’t play very well last week, but I spent Monday up at Titleist and figured a few things out and started hitting it really well. I played the Pro-Am on the North course yesterday. There were just a lot of birdie opportunities out there, so I knew there was a good score. Maybe not 10, but I’ll take it.
Q. What did you figure out at Titleist or what did they help you figure out?
KYLE STANLEY: I think it was just my alignment. I was setting up way out, so it was causing me to go really in-to-out on the downswing, so just squared things up a little bit.
Q. When you finish the round with an eagle, what does that do for you? You looked pretty even tempered right now, but.
KYLE STANLEY: Yeah, it’s nice. It’s nice. I think just a round like today gives you confidence that you’re doing the right things.
Q. How long was the putt on 18?
KYLE STANLEY: Two feet, three feet.
Q. How ideal are the scoring conditions out there, and where does this score fit in for you in terms of the best you’ve had?
KYLE STANLEY: Gosh, actually I think 62 is my lowest. It’s definitely my lowest out here. But the course is in good shape, the fairways are nice, the greens are soft, but you can just be pretty aggressive with your irons. You’ve got to hit solid putts. If you don’t hit solid putts, it will bump up on you.
Q. For the casual golfer out there, what does it say to the depth on TOUR that you can be there at 10-under with a guy like Spencer that maybe aren’t household names?
KYLE STANLEY: I don’t know. I think if you’re out here, you’re obviously pretty good. But the past couple of years there’s been a lot of young guys that are starting to play well.
Q. What did you have into 18?
KYLE STANLEY: 173.
Q. What did you hit?
KYLE STANLEY: 8-iron.
Q. So driver, 8-iron. You don’t see that very much on par-5s even out here.
KYLE STANLEY: No, I mean, I hit yesterday. It was downwind today. But yesterday in the Pro-Am I hit a really good drive, and hit 4-iron in. So the wind helped a little bit.
Q. How long was your driver would you estimate?
KYLE STANLEY: 380, maybe. Not bad for 160 pounds.
Q. Are you one of the longest hitters out here?
KYLE STANLEY: I don’t know about that. I think last year I finished Top 10. But you take a guy like Gary Woodland, I can’t keep up with him.
Q. Is 380 maybe your longest ever?
KYLE STANLEY: It’s probably close.
Q. What did you think of the North course before this round? What was your feeling about going in?
KYLE STANLEY: I liked it. I think I maybe shot 5 or 6 on it last year. So, you know, it’s a course I like. It’s pretty straightforward though. Like I said, there are a lot of birdies.
