Watney saves horrible season in Nick of time

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Nick Watney kisses his wife Amber after winning The Barclays golf tournament at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y. Sunday. (KATHY KMONICEK / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Nick Watney salvaged a dismal season Sunday at The Barclays with a victory that could not have come at a better time.

Watney turned a two-shot deficit against Sergio Garcia into a three-shot lead in a decisive four-hole stretch around the turn at Bethpage Black, and no one got closer than two shots the rest of the way. Watney made a 10-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 2-under 69 to capture the opening playoff event for the FedEx Cup.

He wound up winning by three shots over Brandt Snedeker, who birdied the last hole for a 70. Garcia made bogey on the 18th for a 75.

Graham DeLaet (65) of Weyburn, Sask., fired the best round of the day to wind up in a four-way tie for fifth, four shots off the lead at 6 under.

The win means Watney goes to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings and is assured a shot at the $10 million prize at the Tour Championship next month. Perhaps more importantly, it could be a big step toward an event that doesn't pay anything at all -- the Ryder Cup.

Winning against one of the strongest fields of the year at least puts him in the conversation to be one of four captain's picks for the Sept. 28-30 matches at Medinah. Davis Love III will announce his choices after next week's playoff event outside Boston.

Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk are likely to be two of those picks, and the other two are suddenly wide open.

Snedeker, already under consideration, battled to the end on a warm day on Long Island. He made a 15-foot par putt on the 17th hole and closed with a birdie to be alone in second place. Complicating matters for Love is that Dustin Johnson shot 68 and tied for third, along with Garcia.

Watney, who won for the fifth time in his career, finished on 10-under 278.

In what amounted to a duel with Garcia for so much of the day, Watney fell two shots behind after he three-putted for bogey on the fifth hole and Garcia made a 40-footer for birdie on the next hole. Garcia, going for his second straight PGA Tour win, never had much of a chance after that.

Watney two-putted for birdie on the seventh. On the par-3 eighth, Garcia scrambled for bogey from the bunker, while Watney holed a bending, 30-foot birdie putt to take his first lead of the day. Another two-shot swing followed on the 10th, when Garcia three-putted and Watney hit a beautiful approach to 4 feet for birdie.

Both were sloppy on the back nine, but Watney hit all the right shots and seized control for good with a 10-foot birdie putt on the 14th.

"I made more putts than I made all year," Watney said.

He credits that to some tips from Darrell Kestner, the respected club pro at nearby Deepdale, a lesson set up by a friend. Kestner worked on his setup, mainly keeping Watney from leaning to far back on his heels.

"It paid off," Watney said.

Tiger Woods, six shots behind at the start of the day, never made a move. He alternated between bogeys and birdies until the sixth hole, and his round imploded on the back nine with a three-putt double bogey on the 12th, a poor wedge that led to bogey on the par-5 13th, and a tee shot on the par-3 14th that sailed over the green and one-hopped against the gallery. He closed with a 76 and tied for 38th.

Woods left without speaking to CBS Sports or any other media. It was this third 72-hole tournament over par this year, the other two coming at majors.

Bethpage Black didn't feel like one on Sunday.

After a third round in which several players felt the greens were close to dead and nearly impossible to putt, there was plenty of water on them overnight. High scores were more a product of bad play, and it was difficult for anyone to make up too much ground because conditions were comparable throughout the day.

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 27, 2012 C6