Steve Stricker, Nick Watney Rise to the Top at Transitions Championship

Nick Watney is on a hot streak after winning the Buick Invitational and finishing second at the WGC-CA. He followed an opening 69 with a bogey-free round of 67 to rise to the top of the leader board at the Transitions Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla. on Friday.

Steve Stricker, the 42-year-old pro from Wisconsin, matched Watney’s 69-67 scorecards and is tied at the top at 6-under par on the demanding Innisbrook Resort Copperhead Course at the midpoint of the tournament.

The younger Watney, who will turn 28 in April, confirmed his good mental state and approach to his current performance: “I guess I'm playing very well, but it really seems like this is just what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm keeping the game pretty simple, and putting well. So hopefully that will continue. It doesn't really seem like I'm unconscious or anything. It's just kind of the way I'm supposed to be playing.”

His hot putting streak started back in October when coach Butch Harmon gave him the Inside Down the Line Putting Track by Momentus. “Last year I struggled a bit with my putting and he came out one day and told me he thought it would help, and it has.”

Watney is somewhat of a late-comer to the game and was a walk-on at Fresno State. He’s had to earn his way along a tough road to where he is now. Is that something that motivates him when he plays against golfers who came out as junior golf stars?

“I think yeah at the start, for sure," he said. "In college I did that, and then on the Nationwide Tour, playing with guys that had had their cards. And once I got out here, I think I was—I've gotten over that, or I've gotten over that at every level I've played.

It’s just been hard work and learning along the way, no one big breakthrough.

“I enjoy trying to get better and learning from different situations," he said. "I don't think for me, there's not one time when I said, you know, that was when I made a leap or that was when I got it. It just kind of a process.”

Stricker knows a thing or two about hard work. His reemergence as a world-class golfer came in September 2007 when he won the Barclays the first Playoff Event for the very first FedExCup. The big win in 2007 came on top of a great comeback season in 2006 so much so that he was voted consecutive “Comeback Player of the Year” by his peers on the PGA TOUR. It was a long gap since his 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play victory but he made it back, all the way back.  

Stricker is hopeful about his chances to win his fifth PGA YOUR title this week.

“I hit a lot of greens in regulation," he said. "I think I only missed two greens today. I had a lot of opportunities. I didn't putt particularly well, I didn't think, but again I had a lot of opportunities, and didn't have a blemish on the scorecard, which is always a good thing, especially around here. So it was a good day. Sets me up for hopefully a good weekend.”

The amazing 2008 Ryder Cup champion is on a hot streak of his own.  After missing the cut in the FBR Open every single round except for the last round at the Bob Hope Stricker has been under par. Though unaware of that streak it did not surprise him to learn of it.

“You know, I know that I've been playing well," he said. "I know that I've been shooting some good scores, but no, I haven't paid attention to that.”

He is aware of the Sunday 77 that allowed Pat Perez to win the title at The 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer and a strong Sunday 67 that earned him second place in the Northern Trust Open behind Phil Mickelson. Hopefully his weekend performance will keep the hot streak alive and bring him home another title. 

Retief Goosen’s game is also coming back after reaching the peak in 2004 when he won his second U.S. Open Championship and the Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola. He shot 69-68 and is tied for third place one stroke behind Stricker and Watney. Though different pressure-wise from a U.S. Open he was asked if the course conditions mirrored that of a U.S. Open.

“At least you can still hit 8-irons here instead of 3- or 4-irons," he said. "It's set up like a U.S. Open. The rough is four inches deep and the greens are getting quicker and it's breezy in the afternoon."

Goosen was in contention to win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am when the final round was cancelled due to rain and Dustin Johnson was crowned the 54-hole champion. Why the early success this year?

“I'm working much harder on my game," he said. "(I) lost about 20 pounds of weight since last year this time. I'm playing a little bit more at the beginning of this year than I normally did, and I'm practicing and working much harder on my game, just trying to find some form. I'm putting some good rounds together for a change again. I've had a low round here and there. And to get around this course under par is a good round."

Tom Lehman who turned 50 in March and has yet to play an event on the Champions Tour shot 68-69 and is tied for third place with Goosen and six other golfers.

“Turning 50 is a milestone," Lehman said. "As a golfer, I've always been competitive and always wanted to play my best. I've enjoyed my years on the PGA TOUR but at some point I'll know when it's time to move on."

Surely Tom is recalling his excellent performance at this time last year finishing T8 at next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and T6 at the PLAYERS Championship coming in May.

Level-headed, gracious and humble about everything in golf and life Lehman is realistic about his chances of winning one more time on the PGA TOUR.

“I played very well today," he said. "I suppose I may be threw a couple (of strokes) away, but I made a couple nice saves. So it all kind of balances out. And I probably got what I deserved.”  

When asked of the course conditions he took the opportunity to kid an old friend who lost the PLAYERS title to Sergio Garcia last year in a playoff on the island green No. 17 par-3 at TOC Sawgrass.

“It was a bit tougher yesterday," he said. "The greens got really baked. They were extremely fast and very firm. Paul Goydossaid the greens were firm; I gave him a chance to rephrase that; they were rock hard.”

Who knows what this man can still win...on the PGA TOUR.

Goosen and Lehman were joined in the T3 position with two other well known golfers Charles Howell III who had six birdies and one eagle in his round of 66 on Friday and Stuart Appleby who is trying to win for the first time since winning twice in 2006. Also in a tie for third place was the lesser known other “Ogilvy”—Joe Ogilvie from Lancaster, Ohio and winner of the 2007 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.  

Ogilvie alluded to what happened to the first-round leaders who all played in the morning on Thursday.

"This is a golf course that it kind of scrunches the field a little bit, because you are not going to see a guy—well, Furyk might get it to 10-under," he said. "But you are not going to see a guy shoot 62 on this golf course, especially with the wind being like this, and the greens are a little firm. It's a tough place. Yesterday afternoon, first of all, the wind blew probably double what it's doing right now, and the greens got firm and fast. I think you'll see a little bit of that. The guys in the morning yesterday had no wind whatsoever. They had a pretty easy go at it.”

Furyk did not get it to 10-under par instead shot a Friday 78 and was lucky to make the cut on the number (+1) after a Thursday opening round of 65. First round contenders Stephen Ames, Kenny Perry, and Matthew Goggin all shot second round 74 to drop back in the field.

The best a leader from Thursday did on Friday was Jonathon Byrd’s 70.

“It's a tough golf course out there," Byrd said. "I'm a little disappointed with how I finished, but like I said, it's tough. To shoot 1-under in the afternoon today, I think is a good score.”

Along with Bryd, Ogilvie, Lehman, Goosen, Appleby, and Howell tied for third one stroke back are Troy Matteson and J.J. Henry.

The 70 golfers not playing the weekend included Fred Funk who withdrew after Round 1 due to his sore right knee that was operated on last year and complicated by a staph infection. Golfers cut included K.J. Choi, defending champion Sean O’Hair, Adam Scott, Honda champion Y.E. Yang, Webb Simpson, and Chad Campbell.

The 74 golfers who made the cut, including Japan’s 17-year old Ryo Ishakawa, are being reshuffled into twosomes teeing off starting at 8:31 a.m. with the final twosome of Nick Watney and Steve Stricker at 1:55 p.m.   

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail].