Mar 14 2011
It may be too early to start talking about birdies of the year, but Nick Watney will certainly be a contender after the way he won the second of this season's world championships in Miami.
He stood on the final tee of Doral's Blue Monster course with a one-shot lead over fellow American Dustin Johnson in the Cadillac Championship and then boomed a 315-yard drive into the perfect spot, hit his approach to 12 feet and rolled in the putt.
The 29-year-old said: "After yesterday (Saturday) I was thinking a lot of things, but it worked out great and I couldn't have asked for a better ending."
It was perhaps all the more remarkable given he had to banish two bad memories. The first was the double bogey he had taken on the 467-yard hole the day before and the second was the closing round of 81 when three clear in the US PGA last August. Watney boomed a 315-yard drive into the perfect spot, hit his approach to 12 feet and rolled in the putt.
Runner-up in the event to Phil Mickelson two years ago he added: "I'm not sure it owed me one, but I felt I had something for this course and I think I settled the score."
Watney took the £857,034 first prize with a five under par 67 and 16 under aggregate of 272.
So Johnson finished two behind with Dane Anders Hansen and Italian Francesco Molinari joint third a further stroke behind - and for Hansen that means a climb back into the world's top 50 in time to earn a third Masters appearance next month.
Perhaps of more significance in the countdown to the first major of the year Tiger Woods had a joint best-of-the-day 66 and charged from 30th to 10th.
"I hit a lot of good golf shots and when I did mishit one I knew what the fix was right away," said Woods after a performance which keeps him fifth in the world ahead of Phil Mickelson, who finished a lowly 55th in the 66-strong field.
"It feels overall really good. My trajectory is becoming better and my shapes of my shots are getting tighter. The driver is still not quite there, but I'm hitting it flush again, so that's just a matter of time before that comes around."