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2021 Travelers Championship: Struggles Continues for Nick Watney

By Tim Letcher

PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA - APRIL 30: Nick Watney of the United States looks on from the eighth tee during the second round of the Valspar Championship on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort on April 30, 2021 in Palm Harbor, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA - APRIL 30: Nick Watney of the United States looks on from the eighth tee during the second round of the Valspar Championship on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort on April 30, 2021 in Palm Harbor, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /
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Nick Watney was, at one point, one of the Top 20 golfers in the world. But as he showed this week at the Travelers Championship, those times are long gone.

Watney worked his way into golf’s upper echelon from 2009-2013. He finished each of those seasons ranked 35th or higher at the end of the year. His peak came in 2011 when he finished the year ranked 12th in the world.

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From 2007-12, he won five times on the PGA Tour. His first win came at the 2007 Zurich Classic. He won the Buick Invitational in 2009.

Then in 2011, Watney won twice. He claimed the title at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, then later won at the AT&T National. He finished ninth in the FedEx Cup standings and claimed more than $5 million in prize money.

The next season, Watney may have been even better. In 26 starts, he made 23 cuts, had 12 Top 25s and five Top 10s. He won at the Barclays and finished fourth in the FedEx Cup standings.

He would finish the next season ranked 15th in the FedEx Cup standings. It was another solid showing but it would be the last such season for Watney.

A back injury in 2015 would undo his season, one in which he finished 58th in the FedEx Cup standings. The following season, Watney would make just five starts on tour.

Since then, Watney has made 110 starts on the PGA Tour and has just five Top 10s. Included in that is a second-place finish in the 2018 Wells Fargo.

Watney continues to struggle for the most part, including this week in Connecticut.

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He shot 78 on Thursday and followed that with a 77 on Friday. He finished 155th out of 156 players in this week’s field.

Watney is far from the player he once was. And at 40 years of age and with a faulty back, it’s unlikely he ever will be again.

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