Nick Watney. Pic: Getty Inages/ PGA Tour
Blaine, MN, US, July 24: Nick Watney is stuck with the unwanted tag of being the first PGA Tour player to test for Covid-19, which he was soon after the Tour’s ‘Return to Golf”. He went into quarantine and returned last week at the Memorial, where he missed the cut.
This week at the Twin Cities TPC, Watney was back in spotlight but this time with a superb start of six-under 65 that puts him in Tied-third and two shots behind leader, Richy Werenski (63).
Expectedly, he was happy with his health and the recovery and when inquired about his health, he said, “It’s very good, thank you. I tested positive for the antibodies and negative for the virus, so I’m trying to put that to bed, get past it and hopefully play some nice golf after coming down with that. Like I said, it’s great to be up here after playing a good round as opposed to just other things.”
He is still grappling with the tag of ‘being the first to test positive’. He said, “ Yeah, I haven’t really found the proper way to describe being the first guy, you know. I felt like I was being cautious and careful and to end up with it was surprising, I guess. And then the isolation, the quarantine was kind of like groundhog day, just inside, a lot of pacing around and such. I guess it was — we’re in a pandemic and I’m glad to be on the other side.”
As for his game, he added, “I played very nice, a steady round, kept the ball in play and took my opportunities where they presented themselves. Clean card and pleased with my play. The greens were pretty soft, so it always helps to drive it well, but if you do get out of position, you were able to kind of — if you were smart, you could still make pars. I think if the wind — the wind was a bit tricky. If the wind keeps up this week, the golf course firms up, it will be a little tougher.”
He went on, “It’s really nice to be in here talking about golf and not other things. Hopefully I can keep it this way and see you guys again.”
On his game he added, “You know, I haven’t driven the ball well since the restart, so today I focused on that. Last week at home I did a lot of practice, did a lot of work and it’s paid off so far.”
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