AT&T National concludes with record breaking performances on PGA Tour
AT&T National for the season, staged at Aronimink Golf Club for the second consecutive year, witnessed some record breaking performances by K.J. Choi and Nick Watney, where Watney went over to win his second title for the season.
This was the last time AT&T National was hosted at Aronimink Golf Club, also regarded as one of the toughest par-70 courses on the tour. The course preparation by the staff was lauded by the players and many considered it tougher than last month’s Congressional
Country Club, host of the 111th US Open.
Choi’s record-breaking six-under, 64, did not prove good enough to guide him to the summit as Watney blasted his way on the third day with another course record of eight-under, 62 to grab the lead.
Watney fell one-stroke behind to level the tour record of nine-under, made by Corey Pavin. He pulled in a staggering eight-under, 27 on the back nine on Saturday, which became the touchstone of his success on the final day.
But despite of his stellar performance, Watney had to wrestle his way up against the constant threat posed by Choi in the final round. The Burly South Korean pulled in five birdies in front nine to stay in contention till the 14th hole, where
he fell for a double-bogey on the 15th, to let go of his hard-earned lead.
Watney carded just four birdies in the final round but successfully avoided bogeys to win the title. This was his second win for the season after having won the WGC Cadillac World Championship and the player has now soared to the top of the PGA Tour Money
List.
"I'm overjoyed to be in here as the winner," Watney said. "It was a very difficult, long day. K.J. played great golf and he kept coming and coming. And that makes it even more rewarding."
Crowd-favourite, Rickie Fowler closed his day with another disappointing finish for a joint 13th. Stepping into the final round after a splendid third round of six-under, 64, Fowler was hoping to finally bring an end to his drought-stricken season,
but fell in for a four-over, 74 to drop down the leaderboard.
"I just couldn't get anything going today," he said.
Watney’s near-perfect form gave the field little chance to strive for a victory and he remained bogey-free for his last 27 holes. The player has had an encouraging season so far and posted six Top-10 finishes in his 14 appearances in the year.
With the winner’s prize share of $1.16-million, Watney has now moved to the top of both PGA Tour rankings as well as the FedExCup rankings, knocking out world number one Luke Donald from the top. He has amassed a colossal $4-million for the season and has
also climbed to world number 10 in Official World Golf Rankings.
AT&T National will move on to Congressional Country Club for the next event in 2012.
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