Nick Watney is a known name in golf, though you probably haven’t heard his name much in about a decade.
He finished third on the PGA Tour money list in 2011, when he won twice, played on the U.S. Presidents Cup Team and reached an Official World Golf Ranking of ninth.
As he plays in this week’s ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic at the age of 44 after being an alternate to the field of 132 at the beginning of the week, Watney has a world ranking of 1,006.
So he’s trying to muster a performance that can rejuvenate a career, and he’s giving it through two rounds at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club.
Watney has posted rounds of 66 and 67 and sits in a tie for third at 9-under-par 133, a shot behind leaders Mackenzie Hughes and Cristobal Del Solar of Chile.
“I’m very pleased with my position and try not to think about how old some of these cats are and how old I am, but I’m trying to have fun and see where we end up at the end,” Watney said.
Watney has played just four times on the PGA Tour this year with the status category of a past champion who finished outside the top 150 in FedExCup points last year, though he is playing for the fourth consecutive week.
After tying for 34th in the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open in early March, he has missed cuts in the opposite field Corales PuntaCana Championship, two-man team Zurich Classic, and CJ Cup Byron Nelson over the past three weeks. He has shot under par in each tournament, however.
“It’s great to play a few in a row, kind of get some rounds with a scorecard logged,” Watney said. “I feel like my game has been improving for the first time in a while, so I’m really excited to play. Just trying to enjoy it.
“. . . I just wanted to come and continue to improve. I’m trying not to think about what finish would mean what. I’m aware of it, I have to say. Top 10 would be maybe another start, etc., but I’m just trying to really enjoy myself and soak in my opportunity.”
Watney is playing in his 499th PGA Tour event. He has five wins, six runner-up finishes, 22 top-fives and has nearly $30 million in PGA Tour earnings over the past two decades.
The last of his five PGA Tour wins came in 2012 when he captured The Barclays FedExCup playoff event at the age of 31, an age when many begin to reach their prime in the game.
But Watney’s fall from that point was precipitous, as he dropped all the way to 106th on the season-ending money list in 2014 and hasn’t been higher than 55th since.
“There’s not really like one specific moment of where I kind of thought, ‘Oh, man, I’m starting to struggle.’ It was kind of a gradual thing,” Watney said.
He last played a full season on tour in 2023, when he missed 24 cuts in 32 starts, and last year he missed 10 of 13 cuts.
He was 11th on this week’s alternate list when commitments were due on Friday, and got into the tournament Monday when Webb Simpson withdrew.
Watney, who lives in Las Vegas, was a somewhat rare success story, having walked onto the Fresno State golf team that was coached by his uncle.
He’s looking for a similar rise back to prominence from relative obscurity.
“There have been a few guys that have done well in the second half of their 40s,” Watney said. “Jay Haas is caddying for his son. He made a Ryder Cup team at 51 maybe. So it’s possible. “. . . I think if you put a ceiling on yourself, then you shouldn’t even be out here, you shouldn’t be in competition.”
Watney is in a tie for third with four players: Harry Higgs, PGA Tour rookies Will Chandler and Danny Walker, and sponsor exemption Davis Shore, who is playing in his third tour event.
Norman Xiong is two shots back at 8-under, and six players are tied for ninth at 7-under par.
Father-son parting ways
A father-son duo has been competing in the Myrtle Beach Classic this week, though one is continuing and one will become their spectator this weekend.
Five-time PGA Tour winner and Clemson alumnus Jonathan Byrd, 47, and his 18-year-old son Jackson, who is signed to attend Clemson in the fall, received sponsor exemptions from tournament organizers to create the family affair at The Dunes Club.
While Jackson made the cut with a 3-under 139, Jonathan missed the cut by a shot with a 1-under 141 that included a 69 Friday with a bogey on the par-3 17th hole to drop him off the cut line.
“This is a bucket list item for me,” Jonathan said. “Probably three, four years ago when I started to see him develop and become quite a good player as an elite junior player and win tournaments and represent his country in the Junior Ryder Cup and Junior Presidents Cup, it started to become apparent to me that this kid is probably going to have an opportunity to turn pro.
“It was more about me being able to hang on long enough so maybe we could play in a tournament together.”
Jackson, who is ranked No. 2 in the Rolex American Junior Golf Association Rankings, is making his PGA Tour debut, while Jonathan made his 488th career start.
“I hope he gets the opportunity to do this as a profession because I think he’s very talented, and he doesn’t need a whole lot of help from Dad anymore. I just have to let him run,” Jonathan said.
The Byrds were planning to put a small wager on which one would have a better finish this week. ‘We have to have a little side bet,” Jonathan said.
Jackson said he has been trying to approach this week like he approaches junior tournaments.
“[The preparation] is not a ton different besides the fact that it’s a lot bigger and everything is run just really well,” Jackson said. “It’s more about just enjoying it than really treating it any different.”
Jonathan was Jackson’s primary teacher until Jackson was 10-12 years old, then it became apparent it was best for Jackson’s development and Jonathan’s mental health to hire a different coach.
“Our relationship started to be very strained when I was trying to coach him,” Jonathan said. “My wife in her wisdom finally said, ‘Y’all are done.’ We were getting in too many arguments. . . . I need to be the dad, the encourager, and less the coach. Everything has worked out better since then. He’s got some great instructors that he works with and he’s learned from.”
Jonathan still provides tips when asked, particularly in the short game, but predominantly provides an example to his son.
“Obviously he helps me a ton now, but we just try to distance a little bit golf-wise just so he could be more Dad than golf coach,” Jackson said. “I mean, he’s taught me a ton more than golf too,lust setting an example for how you should act off the golf course as well as on the golf course.”
Jackson’s college experience will be a family affair as well. He will play for his uncle – Jonathan’s brother – Jordan, who succeeded Larry Penley as the head coach at Clemson in 2021.
