Tour Championship – Nick Watney & Jonathan Byrd
Two of Dr Morris Pickens PGA tour players made it into this weeks Tour Championship in Atlanta. Nick Watney started the Playoffs ranked number 1 after having two wins in 2011 at the WGC-CA Championship and AT&T National. Watney’s standing at No. 7 in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup is more about what he did in the Regular Season and less about what he has done over the three Playoff events. Watney began the year with five consecutive top-10 finishes, including his first of two wins in 2011 at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at TPC Blue Monster at Doral. Following that victory, Watney never fell below No. 7 in the FedExCup standings and rose to No. 1 after his second victory of the year at the AT&T National at Aronimik. Watney led through the remainder of the Regular Season and into the first event (The Barclays) of the PGA TOUR Playoffs. A T10 at The Barclays kept him inside the top 5 in the standings, but a final-round 80 at the Deutsche Bank Championship resulting in a T61 finished moved him back. He finished T22 at the BMW Championship
No one started his season better than Byrd. After becoming the first player to hit a “walk-off” hole-in-one to win the 2010 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in his final event of last season, Byrd won the first event of the 2011 season with a playoff victory at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. Byrd had an up-and-down season the remainder of 2011 with five top-10 finishes, including a playoff loss at the Wells Fargo Championship, but he also missed nine cuts. After spending most of the year in or close to the top 15 in the standings, Byrd entered the Playoffs in his lowest position of the year at No. 24. A T5 at The Barclays moved him back into the top 15.
Almost Famous – Nick Watney takes backseat to his cousin Heidi in Boston
Dr Morris Pickens works with PGA Tour superstars such as Nick Watney, Jonathan Byrd, Stewart Cink, Lucas Glover, Zach Johnson, John Rollins, Chris Stroud, Kyle Stanley, William McGirt and Justin Leonard. On the Nationwide Tour he works with Josh Broadaway, Matt Davidson, Elliott Gealey and Kyle Reifers. His NFL players include Oakland Raiders, Richard Seymour and San Diego Chargers own Nate Kaeding.
Courtesy PGATOUR.COM
By Mike McAllister
NORTON, Mass. — Although Nick Watney is the best golfing Watney at TPC Boston this week, he may not be the most famous.
His cousin Heidi Watney is an on-field reporter for the Boston Red Sox. Given her association with Boston’s most beloved team, her fame extends throughout New England — which cousin Nick quickly realized during Thursday’s pro-am.
The golfing Watney, however, is hoping to sew up a spot in the top five in FedExCup points by winning the Deutsche Bank Championship. He took a nice first step by shooting a bogey-free 4-under 67 in Friday’s first round.
The highlight of his round was an eagle at the par-5 18th when he hit a 4-iron with his second shot to inside 10 feet and drained the putt.
“I saw Matt (Kuchar, one of his playing partners) was definitely right behind me and he hit a 4-iron,” Watney said. “He was a few yards behind me, so I figured it was a perfect club and I was finally able to make a putt. It was the longest one I made all day.”
Watney produced the best score in his threesome, which consists of the top three players in FedExCup points. Watney is third in points, while No. 2 Kuchar shot a 2-under 69 and FedExCup points leader Dustin Johnson shot a 3-under 68.
Johnson bogeyed two of the three par 5s during his round, but got back those two strokes with an eagle on the 18th.
A win by any member of the top three players would basically wrap up a top-five spot going into the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, no matter what happens at the next event, the BMW Championship.
PGA Tour playoffs for Fedex Cup – Nick Watney Top Seed – Hurricane Irene
The Baclays starts the Fedex playoffs with Hurricane Irene shortening it to a 54 hole event. Nick Watney who works with Dr Morris Pickens currently sits as the top seed. Courtesy of pgatour.com, here are answers to many of the questions circulating Plainfield Country Club.
1. When will the third — and final round — of The Barclays be broadcast on TV?The airtimes on the Golf Channel (1-2:30 p.m. ET) and CBS (3-6 p.m.) will remain the same. On Sunday, CBS will show the final round of the 2010 Barclays, as well as some taped coverage from Saturday’s final round.
2. What happens to the Live@ coverage on PGATOUR.COM? Well, it will be tape delayed on Saturday beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET and running through 5:30-6 p.m. There will be no Live@ on Sunday.
3. Can I still listen to the PGA TOUR Live coverage on Sirius/XM? Absolutely. That coverage will air from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday. There will be no coverage on Sunday.
4. Is there any possibility that The Barclays would be extended to next week in order to complete 54 holes? Definitely not. The tournament will conclude one way or another on Saturday.
If the entire field can complete the full 54 holes, the man who leads at the end will be the champion. If play is curtailed by weather, the tournament reverts to the 36-hole leaderboard and the FedExCup points will be distributed accordingly.
Either way Matt Kuchar has a great chance of successfully defending his title at The Barclays. He currently owns a one-stroke lead over Dustin Johnson and Vijay Singh.
5. Would the win be an official win?If 54 holes are completed, yes. If the tournament has to revert to 36 holes, the win would be unofficial but the FedExCup and money earned would be official.
6. What is the forecast for Saturday?Well, it isn’t good. Showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected in the morning and steady rain with more electricity in the afternoon. Players will be sent off Nos. 1 and 10 in threesomes from 7-9 a.m. on Saturday in hopes of completing play before the worst of the weather arrives around 2 p.m.
7. What if two players are tied at the end of 54 holes? Weather-permitting, there will be a playoff.
8. What about the ticket situation?All four competition days at The Barclays were sold out. So Saturday’s tickets will be honored for the final round. Anyone holding a ticket for Sunday will receive good-any-day passes to the 2012 Barclays, which will be held on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park.
9. When was the last 54-hole tournament on the PGA TOUR?That would be the 2009 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Interestingly, that event was won by Dustin Johnson, who starts the final round of The Barclays one stroke off the lead held by Matt Kuchar. This will be the 26th 54-hole event on the PGA TOUR since 1990.
PGA Championship – Dr Mo is a team player
Pickens is on site at the Atlanta Athletic Club this week for the PGA Championship. Dr Mo works with several players in this weeks field including; Nick Watney, Lucas Glover, Stewart Cink, Jonathan Byrd and Zach Johnson. Dr Mo promotes a “team environment” which includes himself, an instructor, the caddy, a physical trainer and often times the players agent. It is a team that works together to help the golfer play his best golf. Rick Brown of the Des Moines Register wrote about this team environment in regards to 2007 Masters Champion and Iowa native, Zach Johnson.
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Mike Bender had no idea who this new student was. He was just a name on his lesson schedule: Zach Johnson.
“Just a coincidence that he was an Iowa guy,” said Bender, a Waterloo native who is considered one of the nation’s leading golf instructors. “I didn’t even know he was from Iowa until we started talking.”
Johnson, a Cedar Rapids native and Drake graduate, had been using the practice facility at Timacuan Golf Club in Lake Mary, Fla., also the home of Bender’s teaching academy. Johnson had watched Bender give lessons to some highly skilled players, and decided to sign up himself.
“A pretty neat coincidence,” Bender said.
Their first lesson took place in 1999. They are still together today. Bender was the original member of a team that has expanded with Johnson’s success on the PGA Tour.
The 2007 Masters champion and seven-time winner now has a team that includes Bender as his swing coach; a putting coach, Pat O’Brien; a mental coach, Dr. Morris Pickens; an agent, Brad Buffoni; and a strength and conditioning coach, Chris Noss. Most of the world’s elite players take the team approach as well.
“I can’t do it by myself,” said Johnson, who tees off at 1:05 p.m. today in the first round of the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club. “I need the help. I need the extra eyes, the extra counsel, the wisdom, that sort of thing. We’ve got a great ensemble of individuals.
“It’s a team that I trust, and trusts me. I can’t be doing what I’m doing at a high level without other people.”
The team includes Johnson’s wife, Kim, and his caddie, Damon Green.
“Damon should be at the top of the list,” Buffoni said. “And Kim should be at the top-top of the list.”
Golf is an individual sport. Man against the golf course. But for elite players like Johnson, it takes a team to get to the finish line.
“The game has gotten so specialized,” Bender said. “There are so many guys who are specialists in the mental field, or the putting field, or the fitness side. It’s really important to have the best people who know what they are doing to form your team. Zach has a really good team.”
It is a team that works together to help Johnson play his best golf. They gather at the end of each year to discuss the past season and identify things to improve on for the season to come.
“Zach is smart enough to acknowledge he needs help, which is nice,” O’Brien said. “The thing I like about this team is that we’re all in this together. Nobody thinks they’re bigger than the other. We all like each other, too. I feel fortunate to be part of it.”
Buffoni, who first met Johnson at a Hooters Tour event in Milwaukee, Wis., in 2002 and signed him to a management contract later that summer, molds the team’s moving parts into one machine.
“I view my role as the quarterback of a team with many different skill positions,” Buffoni said. “There are a lot of things going on, and it’s nice to have one guy who oversees it.”
Buffoni wouldn’t discuss what it costs Johnson to keep his team together.
“It’s all incentive based,” Buffoni said.
Johnson’s commitment to being the best doesn’t come easy. In addition to the technicalities of the game provided by Bender and O’Brien and the mental aspects addressed by Pickens, Noss has intensified focus on the physical part of Johnson’s routine.
“I’m 35, my body is breaking down, and I’ve got to do it if I want to stay (on the PGA Tour),” Johnson said.
Johnson, who also sees a pair of tissue specialists to keep his body in top working order, puts in 12- to 13-hour days on average.
“People think it’s such a glamorous life, and he just plays golf for a living,” Kim Johnson said. “But he works very hard to play at the level he plays at.”
In addition to the time it takes to play or practice, Zach has up to three scheduled workouts per week, as well as time on a stationary bike. There also are trips to the fitness trailer before a round to get his body ready to play and then a breakdown session afterward.
“I’ll be talking to friends and they’ll say, ‘Hey, what are you doing after the round, want to go out and get a few beers?’ ” Johnson said. “They have no idea. I want to pass out.”
Back to Back Senior Majors – Damon Green
Zach Johnson was 9-years old when his future PGA Tour caddy, Damon Green turned pro. Damon pokes fun at himself, “I’ve played every tour except the LPGA…I gotta figure that one out”. Green was one of the first pro golfers to appear in a Nike Golf commercial. He’s made it to the finals of the PGA Tour qualifying tournament twice, once missing by a shot after a bogey on the last hole. After 2-years playing full status on the Nationwide tour (back when it was called the Nike Tour) and having played a few PGA Tour events over the years, Damon went to the 1998 Q-school for the last time and missed.
After a divorce that wiped him out financially, Green did some soul searching. He needed a consistent paycheck to cover child support and rent. A job in which he didn’t have to sweat out every putt just to pay bills. With a new outlook on life, the humbled mini tour journeyman began a new and unexpected profession…PGA Tour caddy.
First for fellow Nationwide Tour competitor and friend, Jimmy Green. After Jimmy lost his PGA Tour card, Scott Hoch called on Damon to tote his bag. In the caddy ranks, being the bagman for Scott Hoch was like winning the lottery. Hoch was known as the, “Human ATM Machine”. Although it was a good paying job, Hoch had something else that Green needed. Damon struggled with his course management and Scott Hoch was the expert. For 4 years, Damon quietly watched Scott get himself in but then out of predicaments on the golf course. Scott relied on Damon for yardages, occasional club selection and reading greens (Scott had bad eyesight). Hoch and Green were a good team. Damon once said, “Scott Hoch is so accurate, I have to do his yardage books in half yards”.
In 2003, Scott Hoch won his last PGA Tour title and Zach Johnson came on the scene and was named Nationwide Tour player of the year. Zach and Damon bumped in to each other at a club repair shop near Orlando and Damon congratulated Zach on his fantastic season, offering to help with a few names if Zach needed a good PGA Tour caddy. The “marriage” between Johnson and Green began there. But, Damon had to divorce Scott Hoch which was no easy task. Damon had no intention to leave Scott Hoch…that was, until Zach came along. Green had always hoped Scott planned to use him the following year on the Champions Tour. Wrenched with guilt, Damon didn’t want to miss a chance to caddy for Johnson. He took the gamble and left Hoch, which now looking back was the hardest decision of his life (and one of his best).
Seven PGA Tour victories later (and one Champions Tour win during a one week caddy gig for Hoch), Damon is still caddying for Zach and always dreamed of returning to competitive golf. Damon kept his pro status by playing in tournaments on his weeks off from caddying. His strengths include reading greens and golf course management (thanks to Hoch and Zach). Green remarried and continued collecting mini tour victories (over 70). Last year, Green turned 50 and his wife (former Golf Channel News Manager turned stay at home Mom and caddy wife) mailed in his Champions Tour entry form where he finished T17.
Associate Member status on the Champions Tour, allows Damon to skip the pre-qualifier and go straight to the Monday qualifiers. In 2011 Green spends his weeks off playing in various qualifiers. Many Sundays, taking a red eye flight after caddying 3 weeks in a row for Zach, showing up without a practice round and missing the 80+ field 4 spot qualifiers by a shot or two. But this July, things changed. Damon qualified for both the Senior British Open Championship and the US Senior Open…both Senior majors and two weeks Zach had already planned to take off. Damon is a story about perseverance and not giving up the dream. Good luck to Damon, let’s hope it turns out to be a good story. Either way, Zach will meet you Tuesday on the range at the WGC event at Firestone.
