FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Even after a year that didn’t come close to his expectations, Nick Watney wasn’t about to give up on his season.
Amazing how one week changed his outlook in so many ways.
He beat one of the strongest fields of the year at The Barclays, on the tough track of Bethpage Black. Winning the opening playoff event for the FedEx Cup guarantees him a good shot at the $10 million prize. And suddenly,playing in the Ryder Cup becomes a lot more realistic.
That all came into play Sunday when Watney didn’t miss a green until the 16th hole, turned a two-shot deficit against Sergio Garcia into a three-shot lead, overcame a trio of three-putt bogeys with clutch birdies, and closed with a 2-under-par 69 for a three shot victory.
“It’s been not quite the year I wanted,” Watney said. “But this really makes it all forgotten. Winning a tournament is hard, but winning out here and against this field was very, very difficult. I’m kind of still on a high right now.”
U.S. captain Davis Love III has a lot more choices for his four wild-card selections next week.
Watney won by three shots over Brandt Snedeker, who already was part of the discussion as a potential pick. Snedeker, a winner in San Diego and a contender at the British Open, battled to the end and made big putts on the last two holes for a 1-under 70 to finish alone in second.
Dustin Johnson, also under consideration as a pick, shot 68 and tied for third with Garcia, whose bogey on the final hole gave him a 75.
Not even Watney thought he was worthy of being picked for the Ryder Cup going into the week.
“I’m thinking much more now than I was coming in,” he said. “Coming in here, I didn’t deserve to be in the conversation because I had not played my way in. Someone told me that Davis said he wanted a hot player, and we still have a week to go.”
Love will announce his picks after the second playoff event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, which ends on Labor Day. Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk are likely to be two of those picks, and the other two suddenly are wide open.
Watney, who won for the fifth time in his career, finished with a 10-under 278.
In what amounted to a duel with Garcia for so much of the day, Watney fell two shots behind after he three-putted for bogey on the fifth hole and Garcia made a 40-footer for birdie on the next hole. Garcia, going for his second consecutive PGA Tour victory, never had much of a chance after that.
Watney two-putted for birdie on the seventh. On the par-3 eighth, Garcia scrambled for bogey from the bunker, while Watney holed a bending, 30-foot birdie putt to take his first lead of the day. Another two shot swing followed on the 10th, when Garcia three-putted and Watney hit a beautiful approach to 4 feet for birdie.
Both were sloppy on the back nine, but Watney seized control for good with a 10-foot birdie putt on the 14th.
Tiger Woods, six shots behind at the start of the day, never made a move. He closed with a 76 and tied for 38th.
Bryce Molder (Conway) shot a 72 and finished 2-over 286. He earned $21,080. Molder is 93rd in the FedEx Cup standings with 603 points after entering the Barclays at No. 96.
Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) dropped from No. 42 to No. 60 in the FedEx Cup standings after missing the cut this weekend. He has 776 points. The top 70 golfers after next weekend’s Deutsche Bank Championship move on in the four-tournament PGA playoff.
WEB.COM
Stiles wins
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Darron Stiles won the News Sentinel Open on Sunday for his fifth career Web.com Tour title, closing with a 4-under 67 for a one-stroke victory.
Stiles, 39, finished at 18-under 266 at Fox Den and earned $90,000 to jump from 30th to eighth on the money list with $200,911. The final top 25 will earn 2013 PGA Tour cards.
Stiles also won the event in 2002.
Scott Gardiner (Farmington) shot a 62 to tie for second with D.J. Brigman and Nicholas Thompson. Gardiner earned $37,333. Brigman closed with a 63, and Thompson had a 64.
John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 67 to tie for sixth at 15 under. He earned $16,168.
Tag Ridings (Razorbacks) shot a 69 and finished 9-under 275. He earned $2,850. Glen Day (Little Rock) finished 7-under 277 after shooting a 71, earning $1,713. Ron Whittaker (Little Rock) shot a 71, finishing at 4-under 280. He earned $1,413.
EUROPEAN
Lawrie earns victory
GLENEAGLES, Scotland - Scotland’s Paul Lawrie marked the official confirmation of his return to the European Ryder Cup team after 13 years with a resounding four-shot victory in the Johnnie Walker Championship.
Lawrie, 43, who started the final round leading by a stroke, shot a final-round 68 to finish with a 16-under 272 total on the rain-softened PGA National Course at Gleneagles that will host the 2014 Ryder Cup.
Sports, Pages 13 on 08/27/2012