Saturday, March 14, 2009

Nick Watney of Davis is tied for first?

As a fellow Blue Devil, I root for Nick Watney every time he plays golf. The only odd thing about being a fan of his is when I say, "He's from Davis.... Well, not from Davis, from Davis High. Nick grew up in Dixon, and his family still lives there. I think he currently lives in a state without an income tax, like all rational golfers who make a ton of dough. So, as happy as I am for him, I can't really say we share the same home town. Just the same high school -- where, of course, he was a golf legend. At least reigning American League MVP, Dustin Pedroia, is from Yolo County.

This is a BBC report on the WGC event at the Doral Country Club near Miami:

American duo Phil Mickelson and Nick Watney hold a four-shot lead over the rest of the field going into the final round of the WGC-CA Championship. Watney had four birdies in his opening six holes but had to save par on the 18th to stay on terms with Mickelson. Watney took over at the top of the leaderboard from second-round leader Mickelson after racing to the turn in a four-under 32. Mickelson, who is chasing a win to help him close in on the number one spot in the world rankings, struggled on the front nine, sending his tee shot into the water at the fourth and three-putting for a bogey on the seventh. Watney suffered his first bogey of the tournament at the 11th before birdies at the 12th and 16th put him back into contention. Mickelson recovered his composure on the back nine with three birdies in a row from the 12th and although he drove left at the 17th, eventually ending up with his third bogey, he parred the last to finish with a 69.

EDIT (March 15, 2009): Watney finished in second place, one stroke behind Mickelson. For winning the World Golf Championship, Mickelson earned $1,400,000. For second place, Watney took home $820,000. Third place finisher, Jim Furyk, who was two strokes behind Watney, won $470,000. Tiger Woods, in his first stroke-play event since returning to competitive golf after recuperating from knee surgery last year, was tied for 9th and earned $142,500. The lowest payout, still mighty good for four days of golf, was $35,250, which went to 79th place finisher, Pablo Larrazábal. Larrazábal is a 25-year-old from Spain, who normally plays on the European Tour.

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