Watney Wins 2011 AT&T National
Nick Watney entered the final round tied with Rickie Fowler (74) and carded a bogey-free 4-under 66 to win the AT&T National by two strokes over K.J. Choi (67). The win is the fourth of Watney’s career: 2011 AT&T National, 2011 World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, 2009 Buick Invitational and the 2007 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. With the victory, Watney collects 500 FedExCup points and moves from No. 5 to No. 1 in the standings, knocking Luke Donald out of the top spot for the first time in four weeks.
Watney, who joins Bubba Watson and Mark Wilson as multiple winners in 2011, earns his eighth top 10 of the season (ties his career high from 2010) – tied with Matt Kuchar and Luke Donald for most on TOUR.
Making his 300th career start on the PGA TOUR, 2007 AT&T National champion and eight-time
TOUR winner K.J. Choi finished two strokes behind Nick Watney for the fourth runner-up finish of his career (2011 AT&T National, 2010 Transitions Championship, 2007 The Barclays, 2003 Hyundai Tournament of Champions).
Charles Howell III (T3) closed with a 4-under 66 and was one of just three players (K.J. Choi, Bryce Molder) to post all four rounds in the 60s this week. Now with five starts at the AT&T National, Howell entered the week with just two rounds in the 60s in 12 attempts at this event. He closed with rounds of 68-67 in 2008 en route to his best-previous finish at the AT&T National (T22).
A year ago, Jeff Overton was the only player in the field to post all four rounds in the 60s (68-68-69-67) at the 2010 AT&T National. This year, he opened with a 1-over 71 before closing with 65-68-67 to finish T3 – his third top-10 finish of the season (T3 – AT&T National, T6 – Honda Classic, T8 – HP Byron Nelson Championship).
Adam Scott notched his third top 10 of the season and first since finishing runner-up at the Masters Tournament with a T3 at the AT&T National. Since his performance in Augusta and entering the week, Scott had missed two cuts (THE PLAYERS Championship, U.S. Open), finished T23 (Valero Texas Open) and T65 (Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial).
Final-Round Leaderboard
Nick Watney 70-69-62-66—267 (-13)
K.J. Choi 69-64-69-67—269 (-11)
Charles Howell III 68-68-69-66—271 (-9)
Jeff Overton 71-65-68-67—271 (-9)
Adam Scott 66-71-66-68—271 (-9)
