Nick Watney JOHN BUSH: Okay. We've got our co-leader. Nick Watney. 7 under 65 at Poppy Hills. Nick, thanks for coming by. Obviously a great day. Just comment on the round. NICK WATNEY: All right. I played pretty well. Hit the ball well and made my fair share of putts. Been hitting it well all year, just haven't made a lot of putts. So today was nice. JOHN BUSH: T-7 here last year, so obviously a place you feel pretty comfortable. NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I grew up about three hours from here. Always had a lot of fun. JOHN BUSH: Four under for the first few rounds. Kept it going from there. NICK WATNEY: Yeah, couple par 5s, was able to hit a couple shots in. JOHN BUSH: Questions? QUESTIONER: Did you birdie all the par 5s? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, one eagle over. QUESTIONER: What were the conditions like? NICK WATNEY: They weren't bad. I mean forecast is pretty bad, but the wind kicked up a little bit late, but other than that, you know, bit cold, but pretty nice other than that QUESTIONER: How hard was the wind blowing out there do you think? NICK WATNEY: You know, I'm not very good at that. I would say 5 to 10. I'm not very good at measuring that. QUESTIONER: Was it enough to affect your club selection? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, definitely. It was probably about a club. One club wind. QUESTIONER: Your approach shot on 18, run us through your thinking on that. Were you going to go for it all the way? NICK WATNEY: All right I just tried. .. you know, I was kind of up built? So I felt I could get a 4 iron over the bunker or over the lip of the bunker. There wasn't no water or anything, so not too much trouble. Just tried to get if. .. QUESTIONER: You had a bogey, was it number 1? NICK WATNEY: Number 1. QUESTIONER: What happened there? NICK WATNEY: I missed about a two and a half foot par foot for par. I'm not sure what happened QUESTIONER: Was it a slider? NICK WATNEY: No, I'm going to say that it took a hop, you know, kind of QUESTIONER: That happens out here. NICK WATNEY: It does happen. So that's what I'm going with QUESTIONER: How much did you play at PGA down here? NICK WATNEY: I didn't play much of that. But I played in... I think it's my fourth time and I played Callaway tournament every winter. QUESTIONER: Was this your best round this year? NICK WATNEY: Well, my lowest score. I hit the ball very well, but I've hit the ball well a couple times. this year, just haven't made a lot of putts. So it was one of the best. QUESTIONER: Last year, do these courses suit your game? Do you like the Pro Am format? Seems like you feel pretty comfortable here. NICK WATNEY: I guess it's a little bit of everything. Like I said, I played this event the most of any tour event, so I feel comfortable here. Got a lot of friends and family. Pro Am, you know, is pretty relaxed out there, so it's fun. QUESTIONER: What has been the biggest difference between the first four events or five events this year and maybe some of what was happening at the end of the year? Is there a dramatic change in your game, in your swing? In your ability? You said you're not putting as well and yet I don't think you have an overwhelming round this year. NICK WATNEY: I worked with Butch over the winter, I worked pretty hard. I'm hitting the ball very well this year. At the end of the year last year I was playing pretty well. I wasn't as consistent so this year I'm being pretty consistent and I think it's just getting comfortable. It's the start of my third year, so kind of learning the ropes and been in a few more, been in a few more situations. QUESTIONER: Poppy the place to be today, given the wind? NICK WATNEY: I think it's the most shielded course of the three. It was a good break for us playing Poppy today. QUESTIONER: Got some gallery here from the Fresno area. NICK WATNEY: Yeah, from Fresno. I grew up near Sacramento. My parents are here, aunts and uncles and friends, so closest I get to home. QUESTIONER: What else happened on number 4? I know you hit the ball, looked like it was going right. You hit it right over the street? Did you think you were going too far right? NICK WATNEY: I was going left. QUESTIONER: I'm talking about the tee shot first. NICK WATNEY: Oh, the tee shot. QUESTIONER: Then the second. NICK WATNEY: I thought it was going to be close. Turned out to be okay. Then the second shot is kind of heading a little left. Kind of hit somebody I heard bounced out on the fairway QUESTIONER: It's going to happen out here, too. NICK WATNEY: Yeah, the more you play with people around, eventually you're going to hit someone. QUESTIONER: One you're related to? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, but this time it wasn't. JOHN BUSH: All right. Go through the card real quick. Starting with a birdie on number 10 THE WITNESS: Yeah, I hit a really good tee shot and a good iron and had a pretty easy 2 putt. JOHN BUSH: How far was the first putt? NICK WATNEY: First putt was probably 15 feet. JOHN BUSH: All right. The eagle on 12. NICK WATNEY: I hit 3 wood to the green. I thought it might be a little to the right and it kicked left on the green probably another 15 foot putt JOHN BUSH: 13? NICK WATNEY: 13 I made about a 20-footer. Two people, Jeff Ogilvie and my partner Jerry Chang were on similar lines and I got to see them first so they showed me the way. JOHN BUSH: Okay. The birdie on 18? NICK WATNEY: 18 I hit a really good 3 iron. Probably 15 feet above the hole and 2 putt JOHN BUSH: Number 4, par 5. NICK WATNEY: Number 4, like I said, I hit somebody, my second shot. Then hit kind of an okay wedge shot on 15 or 18 feet. Made that. JOHN BUSH: Par 3, number 6? NICK WATNEY: Par 3. Seven iron probably my best shot of the day, three feet. JOHN BUSH: Number 9. NICK WATNEY: Number 9 I hit a really good 4 iron out of the bunker. Probably about 18 feet. JOHN BUSH: Okay. Any more questions? QUESTIONER: Did Jerry say anything about the last pro he played with at this tournament? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, he actually told me because I told him my friends were saying I had no chance to... I didn't really have a chance to make an impression on him because he played with Tiger every year. And he told me he upgraded. I don't know if that's possible, but he was really. .. having played with Tiger, you know, he could have been. .. acted a number of ways but he was really, really nice and I enjoyed playing with him. JOHN BUSH: Back row. QUESTIONER: Have you been in this position before at a PGA event? NICK WATNEY: I've been in it a few times. I wouldn't say a lot. I think three or four times now. QUESTIONER: What's your mindset now? I know it's Thursday, what's your mindset being tied for the lead? Is it any different? NICK WATNEY: Not really. Especially here we're a different course every day. So just got to go... keep going because pretty sure when he scores I'll be 7 under, so I've got to keep going. QUESTIONER: In this case, be honest here, how long had you guys been on tour before you started getting the Bill Haas comparison? NICK WATNEY: When he came out. Actually on my first year he was on the Nationwide tour. He asked me how my dad was doing. Still happens, so, but I mean I like Bill, so it's no problem. QUESTIONER: Ever thought about wearing a visor? NICK WATNEY: No, I never thought of that, but hopefully I'll start playing well enough that people will know the difference. QUESTIONER: In this case, I just have to ask because Butch is a friend. Can you give some specifics about which you're aware... NICK WATNEY: I think one of the most amazing things about Butch is that it's like a process, you know, he wants you to play good while you're still working on stuff. So I saw him early in the winter and we did on whole day was going forward because sometimes I hang back on my right side. So all I've been trying to do is move forward on my down swing and I mean I've been hitting ball really, really well, so you know, I love Butch and I mean he's definitely a blessing to have in my career. JOHN BUSH: Anything else?