SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 1, 2021

Nick Watney

Country Club of Jackson

Quick Quotes

Q. Got off to a hot start. How would you characterize the round as a whole?

NICK WATNEY: I was just informed I only hit two fairways. It didn't seem that stressful. That sounds really stressful, but it wasn't that stressful. For the most part I kept it in the right spot on the greens and I made a few kind of bonus putts that you might not expect to make. So those are always fun.

Yeah hopefully I can keep it in the fairway tomorrow and keep playing well.

Q. Can the fairways hit sometimes be a misleading stat? Because you hit so many greens today even out of the rough. Is that sometimes misleading that you maybe drove it a little bit better than that stat says?

NICK WATNEY: Absolutely. I hit -- the second hole, for example, I hit it in the semi cut. Made a birdie there.

The 5th hole I drove it great and I mean it went literally six inches into the rough.

12 is a tough driving hole, I hit it in the semi cut there. So it counts as a missed fairway. But those were pretty good drives. 17 I hit it in the semi cut.

So, yeah, I think it's a bit misleading. Obviously I want to hit more than two fairways for every round I play, but it wasn't quite as bad as two fairways sounds.

Q. Where do you feel like your game is right now? It's been a couple, a few lean years recently. Where do you feel like your game is and kind of getting back to the form that you had maybe back in, like, 2010,'11,'12,'13, '14, that range?

NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I feel like I'm really building now. I'm really kind of hungry to play and to be nervous and to, last year there were some low times that kind of, I asked myself some really tough questions. You know, do I want to keep playing, do I enjoy this, and I really do.

So kind of reassess some things and got to work and, yeah, I feel like I'm building. And I don't really feel like I'm in competition with any other person. I'm kind of, I'm in competition with myself to see if I can handle golf, championship golf. So I'm really excited and I feel like I'm building.

Q. How hard was it to ask yourself those questions?

NICK WATNEY: It was a bit uncomfortable. I mean, because I've done this for long enough that, I've played long enough that I don't really know anything else, you know? And not that I want to, but to ask those questions was, and to be really honest was, it took some kind of, I don't know, some soul searching or, I feel like that's another cliche.

But, yeah, just to really be honest, do I want to do this, do I enjoy it. I have a family now, so. But I really do and I obviously enjoy playing like this and I'll enjoy tomorrow no matter what happens. So I'm, it's all positives.

Q. How does having a family now kind of change your perspective of golf in general and just maybe there's bigger things in life than just this?

NICK WATNEY: Yeah, it really does. I talked to my kid on FaceTime or I sneak home for a day. And last year was a horrendous year on the course, and they had no idea. They just wanted to get a yogurt or something.

So it's phenomenal. It's amazing to see them grow up. And my wife's support last year, and it's just, it's really, really great.

Q. The LM on the side of your cap, what does that stand for?

NICK WATNEY: So our family friends, the Mumfreys, got some terrible news and my buddy Luke Mumfrey's going through some things right now and I'm not sure if they're watching, but I just wanted them to know that we're thinking about them and pulling for them and we love them and so that's what it's about.