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AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-AMFebruary 9, 2010Nick WatneyPEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA DOUG MILNE: Thanks for joining us for a few minutes here prior to the 2010 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. You've enjoyed some success here, I think you had a Top-10 back in 2006, just some thoughts kind of as you start the week out here, how you're feeling, how's the game? NICK WATNEY: The game is, you know, I would love to say good. I didn't play very well last week, but I think it was a -- I'm confident coming in. I feel like I'm doing some good things and hopefully it will pan out, and as far as coming here, I mean, it's I bit like home coming for me. It's the event I've played the most as a pro, so you know, very excited to come back to northern California, and looking forward to the week. Q. Where have you been today? NICK WATNEY: I was just on the range just now, skies opened up a little bit. But I flew over from Las Vegas this morning. Q. Are you going to look at the new place or -- NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I'm going to be at the new place in the morning. I have never played there, actually. So need to look around a little bit, and then maybe just some putting, where I'll start, I haven't got my times yet, but some putting on the greens where I'll start. Q. How much different is the course this week than it will be for the U.S. Open, Pebble Beach, and is there anything to be gained playing that could help somebody four months down the road? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, well, I think the golf course will be much different. Hopefully it will be much firmer in June. This week with amateurs and whatnot, the rough will be much less severe. But I still think it could benefit people playing -- you know, they always change certain things, little things around here. I know the sixth fairway is much different than the last U.S. Open, and you know, bunkers on certain holes, maybe 16 is different, as well. So I definitely think that getting a look will benefit you, but as far as course conditions, I think it will be much different in June. Q. What do you think about that sixth fairway? How will that affect play? NICK WATNEY: I think it's a much more difficult driving hole now. It brings the ocean more into play, and if you do happen to hit in those bunker, you could possibly have to lay up to the bottom of the slope, because they are very penal bunker, whereas before, the ocean was not really in play, and it was more of just -- try to pick which side of the fairway you want to hit for your second shot. But now, you just try and hit a fairway pretty much. Q. What's kind of held you back so far this year? NICK WATNEY: Hawaii, I was a little rusty. San Diego, I played well, except for the North Course, which kind of cost me. And last week was -- I made a triple both days, which there were not many birdies out there, and to make a triple, it was hard to fight back from. But I think I'm just -- little things, for the most part, I'm hitting it well. When I hit it close, I'm not converting, or miss an easy up-and-down. Hopefully things I can iron out soon. Q. What did you work on yesterday? NICK WATNEY: Putting setup. I had my hands very low and it was hard to get the club aimed correctly. So I'm just mostly working on setup with the putter. And then just trying to hold onto things less and get to the next shot. Q. Why just one week in Hawaii? NICK WATNEY: The Sony course, it doesn't really fit my eye. It's very tight, and I just -- I was going to play a lot on the West Coast, so I didn't want to play too much early, because I had a five-week stretch coming up. So just played Kapalua and come back, rest and practice. Q. Was your work in Vegas with Butch and did you see any other clients out there? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, my work was with Butch in Vegas. Stewart came in the week of San Diego and I was already over there, and then Phil -- Butch went to San Diego to see Phil. So I actually didn't see anybody. None of the other guys were there when I was there. Q. You're not big enough for Butch to come to Pebble to see you? NICK WATNEY: I can't answer that. (Laughter). Q. You've steadily improved in two years of play. Are you feeling a continual comfort level playing the golf courses now and with the travel, etc.? NICK WATNEY: No question. This is what I've always wanted to do since I was little and I feel like I belong now, and you know, kind of played with everyone and got to play with Tiger a little bit last year and he kind of gave me some great advice about if you're better in December than you were in January, it was a successful year. I think coming from him, that was very powerful, because he's, obviously, he doesn't have too much to improve on. So hearing from him that he tries to improve every year was very motivating, and that's what I'm trying to do. Q. You said a minute ago after talking kind of technical about swing, you were talking about not hanging on so much, was that a swing thing or emotion thing you were getting at? NICK WATNEY: That's pretty much emotional. I hate -- I really hate to miss cuts and not be able to compete and I was kind of hanging my head about that. And Butch kind of just said, hey, you know, what's done is done, and you've got another week to prepare, and come Thursday, if you're worried about last week, it's going to do nothing but hamper you. So just kind of -- you know, last week was unfortunate, but we're all tied for the lead on Thursday morning. So it's time to put that to bed and get after it. Q. Did you have a problem with that before? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, definitely. Just sometimes I don't feel like I perform like I should, and it kind of bothers me. I need to start using that as a positive and just move on and get to the next tournament. Q. Did you come to this event as a kid? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I did. Q. What memories do you have? NICK WATNEY: Unfortunately this year, my memory, I came down and the tournament was cancelled in August or something. But this weather, it's kind of reminding me of that week. Yeah, just a lot of great memories of seeing, when I was young, of seeing -- I saw Jack and Arnold play here a couple of times. And then Tiger when he first started, I caught a glimpse of him a couple of times. And then as I got older, some friends of mine were playing, Andy Miller, I remember playing against him in high school and seeing him out here. Just kind of grew up watching this event, and it's definitely special to play in it every year. Q. Anybody who knows anything about golf knows Pebble Beach. What is the fascination, do you think? Is it the scenery? Is it the history? What do you think is the one thing? NICK WATNEY: I think it's both. You know, the scenery is incredible, obviously, and then every hole, almost every hole you can think of shots that the greats have hit. 17, Jack hits a 1-iron, Tom Watson chips in. 15, Tiger is holing a wedge. It's just there's a lot of history and scenery. I think both of them are, you know, what sets the place apart. Q. Were you thinking -- I don't know what it is, $400 a round for green fees. NICK WATNEY: Would I ever pay it? Q. Would you ever pay $400 for a green fee? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I think I would do it one time, just to say. It's a special place and it's close to home for me. I think it's a special place. Q. Did you have much opportunity to play here before you were pro? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I played here once before I was a pro. And it was -- my uncle is a golf coach for Fresno State and one of his players was, I'm not sure of the title, maybe director of golf at Pebble Beach. We came out and were last off one afternoon and finished in the dark, but it was incredible. Q. Did you ever play the State Amateur? NICK WATNEY: I never played the State Amateur. Q. How come? NICK WATNEY: Well, I tried to qualify a couple of times as a junior and didn't make it, and then it was during the Northeast Amateur. It was conflicting, so I never played. Q. What are your recollections of the 2000 U.S. Open? NICK WATNEY: My recollections are Tiger Woods. Q. We wanted you to elaborate. NICK WATNEY: You know, hanging around Butch, he will sometimes go back to that. Actually we were talking about it yesterday, Butch said, I don't know if you remember this, Tiger made a triple on Saturday and won by 15. And now being out here and winning -- I won New Orleans by three, and Tiger won by 15. I mean, it's incredible. So yeah, I think I watched those rounds multiple times, and that was maybe the finest performance on any golf event in the history of the game, so any one recollection, I don't really have any one recollection. Q. Did you watch it on TV? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I watched it on TV and recorded it. I do remember in the first round, I think he shot 65, and he hit it -- he birdied the last hole, and Johnny Miller says, or it might have been on 14 in the first round, Johnny Miller says, "He could run away with this." I mean, that's pretty good foreshadowing. But yeah, that was just an incredible performance. Q. Were you serious, talking about golf as a kid, you came out here and watched the pros, or did you follow any celebrities at all? ? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I was pretty much into the pros. The celebrities, you're liable to get hit by a ball or something. Yeah, I was definitely into the pros. It was a treat just to come and see him and you know, the way the ball sounds here on the coast through the trees and playing, like you said, on these historic courses, it was a lot of fun. Q. How old were you the first time you came? NICK WATNEY: The first time I came I was probably 14. Q. What pros would you come look for and make sure you saw? NICK WATNEY: I always like to watch Davis, just because he's one of the longest players, and the first year that I came, Davis was still using a wooden driver, and so that definitely had a distinct sound. So Davis and Freddie, and like I said, Jack and Arnold were still playing at that time, so definitely wanted to see those guys. Q. Can you get any autographs or were you too old for that? NICK WATNEY: I didn't really see them after play. I usually came during the tournament round. So I didn't see them after the round. I just watched them all on the course. Q. How did your Super Bowl pool work out? NICK WATNEY: Super Bowl was good. I hit a halftime pool -- or the halftime numbers were my numbers, so it worked out very, very nice. Q. What did you learn from watching Jack and Arnie and those guys when you were a kid? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I think I learned a lot from reading about them and when they were in their prime, but when they came here, they weren't really contending or I think Jack would probably be angry here, but it was more ceremonial, and I think they weren't really on top of the leaderboard at that time. But I mean Jack is definitely a tactician when it comes to placing his ball here or there. I think he does that to this day. So definitely maybe learned some course management stuff. Q. Just curious with the wet conditions this week, I know that it won't be hard to hold greens, but do the new grooves, do they affect the control you have on the ball, just with all of the clubs, even if you're in the fairway, just because it's so wet? Is there anything that you can tell like that? NICK WATNEY: Well, if anything, it might even help this week, because the ball will be spinning a little bit less. But I don't think we've seen the full effect of the new grooves on the West Coast because the weather has been -- everything has been pretty wet, so I don't think we have seen the full effect of, you know, less spin chipping and pitching and stuff like that, and probably see it more in Florida. Q. Just out of the rough, is there any effect? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, the ball is going to pin less, but again the greens are so soft that for me, it almost has not been able to tell. DOUG MILNE: Okay, Nick, as always, we appreciate your time and best of luck this week. End of FastScripts |
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