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.