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WGC HSBC CHAMPIONS

November 5, 2009

Nick Watney

SHANGHAI, CHINA

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Nick Watney, thanks for joining us here after your first round 64 here at the WGC - HSBC Champions event. If you could just start with some openings comment, great day for you, four conservative birdies on your final nine holes, the first four holes. Again, maybe some opening comments?
NICK WATNEY: Well, I played very well, got off to a nice start. And the greens are so good that if you hit a putt on-line, it's definitely going to go in. So I was putting very well, just tried to give myself as many chances as possible, and I was able to make a few.
JOEL SCHUCHMANN: If we can get a couple more comments about your season, you finished second in the CA Championship, another World Golf Championships, to Phil Mickelson, won the Buick Invitational and finished 12th in the FedExCup. So outstanding season for you, maybe some overall general comments about your year in 2009.
NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I was very pleased with the start of the year. The middle left a little bit to be desired. But overall, very pleased with the way I played, and I'm better now than I was at the start of the year. So that is the goal.

Q. Can you tell us what went on in your head as you left what was your 13th green at 9-under; were the crowds swirling, and were you getting a bit jumpy or what were you thinking?
NICK WATNEY: I was just trying to focus on the next couple of holes, because you know, I guess it would be 5 and 6 are really difficult. And there's trouble out there.
So I wasn't too jumpy. I mean, it's only the first day. I played some nice shots. Coming down the stretch I just wasn't able to make any birdies and unfortunately bogeyed the last. It was just one of those days where everything was feeling really good, so I wasn't too jumpy.

Q. While the other fellow PGA players are trying to get more rest at home, you've been playing this WGC event and also the World Cup, so why have you made this decision for joining this event?
NICK WATNEY: Well, I think I've been the coolest things about golf is being able to travel all around the world; and to get this opportunity to come here and then back to Hong Kong, I didn't think twice about it. I'm fairly young and golf is what I love to do, so I was excited to get the invitation. I'm looking forward to the events.

Q. What are you going to do in between the season and after the World Cup?
NICK WATNEY: Well, I'm going to play in South Africa at the Nedbank Challenge --

Q. After HSBC.
NICK WATNEY: Oh, I'm going to go back to the States. I was going to play -- I was thinking about playing but then once I was invited to South Africa, I decided to go home and rest.

Q. Considering your experiences playing around the world and the countries you've been to and how this compares, playing in China, the furthest you've travelled I would imagine?
NICK WATNEY: This is the farthest I've gone.
Obviously I've played in Europe a few times. The golf is just a little bit different because of I guess the weather and the conditions. I like it. I think it's really -- I mean, the golf course is a good golf course, if it were here, or in America. But I like just being able to see a new part of the world, and so far, I really like China.

Q. Can you talk us through your eagle, and also the unfortunate dropped shots at the last, please?
NICK WATNEY: The eagle, 14, I hit a very nice drive. The first two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, I practised and I found that the ball is not quite travelling as far as back home in Las Vegas.
So I had a shot that maybe would have been 3-iron, but I decided to hit a hybrid into the green. I was trying to hit the centre of the green and I actually pushed it right at the flag and it went about 30 feet long, and I holed it.
And then on No. 9, I played a shot just left of the green and misjudged the first putt pretty bad and missed about a 12-foot putt for par.

Q. Looks like you'll go into the second day a couple of shots ahead of Tiger; how do you deal with that sort of thing, being a couple of shots ahead but knowing he's there; does that play into your mind a bit?
NICK WATNEY: Probably not the second round. If it was Saturday night, I don't know how well I'd be sleeping. But just for Friday, I'm in a great position, but at the same time, there's a really long way to go. It's always good to beat Tiger, and hopefully I can keep a little cushion between us.

Q. You had some big drives and some amazing putting, does that mean you have more and more of a chance to win this event?
NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I mean, that's the goal. I mean, that's why I came, to try to win the event. So I'm playing well. I did some good work with Butch when I was home on both ball-striking and putting, and today I was in good form. So hopefully it will continue.

Q. I wonder if you can go through your other birdies. Also, I wanted to know, you went into town, Tuesday?
NICK WATNEY: Tuesday.

Q. Just talk about the experience there.
NICK WATNEY: First, the birdies, I birdied 10. I hit a 9-iron about two feet.
11, I hit a 9-iron eight feet and made it.
14, I made eagle.
15, I hit a really good 4-iron about eight feet.
No. 1, I hit 8-iron four feet.
No. 2, I hit a hybrid on the right edge of the green and 2-putted.
No. 3, a 9-iron 15 feet.
No. 4, a 6-iron 30 feet and made it.
Going into town, it was a very good experience. We actually went in to eat Texas barbeque, which I felt a little bit bad about coming to China and eating Texas barbeque. But we took a cab there and back, and it was an adventure. Our cab drivers were very -- they were pretty crazy. A lot of bikes weaving in and out. It was a good experience. (Laughter).

Q. Did it taste like Texas or Shanghai?
NICK WATNEY: It was somewhere in between.
JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Nick Watney, thank you.

End of FastScripts

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