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BUICK OPEN

July 28, 2005

Nick Watney

GRAND BLANC, MICHIGAN

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Great round today, bogey free 64 and you birdied your last three holes. Let's start with some opening comments. Great first day here for you at the Buick Open.

NICK WATNEY: Yeah, definitely very excited to be here. It's a great field and a great course. So happy to have played well.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: It's your rookie season on TOUR and you've made about $300,000, about halfway towards your card. You've kind of struggled lately after a good finish at Wachovia, just talk about the last few weeks and how you played so well today.

NICK WATNEY: I was struggling with my ball striking. I really didn't have the direction at all. I took last week off and actually had a lesson in Las Vegas with Butch Harmon and he gave me some stuff to work on. And I actually switched putters and everything seemed to click today.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Maybe sometimes the best thing to do is just take a week off and get away from the PGA TOUR and maybe just try to refocus yourself?

NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I think myself personally, I can play myself into the ground, so take a week off, get some rest, practice away from tournament golf seems to help me a little bit.

Q. Can you talk about what happened on 18, and making a birdie like that, was that something that could have been gone wrong that turned into something good?

NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I hit not such a good drive and had not a clear shot. So just a matter of hitting through the trees and the shot came out well and I was able to make the putt. I think when you shoot 7 , 8 under par, you definitely get some good breaks, and that was one of them.

Q. If you could say in layman's terms, what was Butch having you do that you were not doing the last weeks or months?

NICK WATNEY: It was actually a couple parts. I was a little sideways. We worked on my takeaway and my downswing. But, you know, it's nice to have something to work on. I actually kind of felt lost before that, so it was very nice to have something to work on.

Q. Can you just talk about having the new putter? Can you talk about how that might have helped you out today?

NICK WATNEY: Well, I mean, you know, just a different look I guess. Everything seemed to be I started my ball on line almost every putt, and I just had a different look. I was able to, you know, just change it up a little bit.

Q. Just talk a little about the 64, is this one of the better rounds you've had your rookie year?

NICK WATNEY: Oh, yeah, no question. Probably the best round I've played all around. I drove it pretty well and putted very well, so definitely maybe my best round of the year.

Q. Do you adjust anything for tomorrow?

NICK WATNEY: Yeah, actually, I didn't drive it as well as I did on the front nine, on the back, so I'm going to hit some balls, drivers, and hit some probably mid length, like 60 or 70 yard shots.

Q. When you're having a round like you are, like you did today, at what point can you kind of hear yourself saying, "Wow, this is all clicking for me here today?"

NICK WATNEY: You know, I didn't really feel that way the whole day, because I was trying to stay in the present, stay patient. I birdied the last three, so I don't think I was leading until that happened. There wasn't one point where I decided I was having a great day, just kind of added it all up and it turned out to be 64.

Q. So looking at the last couple of weeks, you think you only had one sub par round out of the last ten, was it out of the blue or could you feel it coming or did you see the course earlier in the week and thought it set up well for you?

NICK WATNEY: I was definitely struggling recently. Coming into the week, I felt like I could at least play well. I didn't see this coming, but at least play well enough to just start making cuts again and hopefully get some good finishes. I was pretty low there for a while, so nice to have a round like this.

Q. Can you talk about the advantage of being young?

NICK WATNEY: Gosh, I don't know, I mean, I guess you don't need as much sleep or you recover faster, I'm not sure. I mean, I'm just out here having a blast. This is my first year and definitely where I want to be, so I'm not sure.

Q. Going into tomorrow knowing that you're in much better shape to make the cut than you have your last few tournaments, how much pressure is that going to take off of you and how much easier will that make your first few holes tomorrow?

NICK WATNEY: Well, I'm in a position right now that I think about trying to stay at the top and not just make the cut. I mean, hopefully it will be nice to play the weekend again, but I'm going to try to do more than just play the weekend.

Q. Has this year been tougher than you expected your rookie year to be?

NICK WATNEY: It has and it hasn't. You know, it's definitely different. I think it's different than the Nationwide Tour for myself personally. It's definitely a bigger stage and the best players in the world play on this tour. So it definitely takes some getting used to I think.

Q. Along those lines, do you find yourself in a position where you may not be used to, sitting at the top of the leaderboard, and as the first round comes to a close, who will you lean on to avoid being starstruck, finding your name amidst that company?

NICK WATNEY: I have a great caddie, Tim, he's been with me for about a year and a half now. He knows me pretty good. I'll probably just call some friends back home, try to treat it like any other day.

Q. Is this your first time in the interview room?

NICK WATNEY: No. I've been in the interview room, actually talking about Michelle Wie. I played with her a couple of weeks ago. (Laughter).

Q. Where did you play with her?

NICK WATNEY: At the John Deere.

Q. Talk a little about how at Wachovia, I think you finished 11th and then you missed the next seven cuts. How hard is that, that you have a really good tournament and then you struggle after that?

NICK WATNEY: Well, I mean, it's tough. I played very well at Wachovia in the last round and actually thought that I might have some momentum started. You know, it was pretty discouraging to miss seven cuts in a row like that.

But, I mean, I learned a lot from it, and every tournament, really. You know, hopefully I won't miss another cut the rest of the year. I guess there's going to be bumps in the road.

Q. Who is your normal swing coach?

NICK WATNEY: Well, I work with a guy back home in Fresno, and I mean, Butch, you know, definitely helped me I guess I don't know.

Q. Have you ever called him before?

NICK WATNEY: There's a man I live in Fresno, California, and there's a guy there THAT'S good friends with Butch and he kind of got me hooked up with him that way. He was nice enough to help me out.

Q. Did you get a good taste for 17, which it's got some good hits here as far as being a hole here with a lot of fans and rowdy, birdieing it had to be pretty cool. Did you get a taste of the flavor there?

NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I've heard about that hole. I don't know if I got the full effect of it on Thursday morning, but hopefully on Sunday I'll make another birdie and see what happens.

Q. You seem to be a pretty calm guy but I've got to imagine inside you're all fired up?

NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I'm very pleased, but at the same time, it's Thursday, so we've got a lot of time for the rest of the tournament. Definitely we'll see what happens.

Q. You hear guys talk about guys in the group getting hot and feed off each other, is that hard when your playing partner struggles, or does that not effect you?

NICK WATNEY: Not really. I feel for them. It's a home course and we would all like to do well at home, but no real negative effects really.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Nick, if we can go through your mind, eight birdies today, starting on the first hole, No. 1.

NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I actually got another good break there. I hit my tee shot left and it was fading back and I was able to hit it lay it up and hit it about 12 feet I think.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: What did you hit in?

NICK WATNEY: I hit pitching wedge.

3, I hit a 6 iron about 20 feet I guess.

7, I laid it up, hit a sand wedge about 12 feet.

9, I hit a pitching wedge about 18 feet I guess.

14, I just chipped it about four feet.

16, I hit a lob wedge four feet.

17, 7 iron, 20 feet.

18, 5 iron, 12 feet.

Q. Did the course play any differently today with all of the rain the last couple of days, and the par 5s probably are reachable?

NICK WATNEY: Yeah, it rained before I played Tuesday, so it was pretty wet then, also. But it's fairly soft. I'd actually like it to get a little firmer for the rest of the week.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Nick, thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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