Watney is no Moore
Nick shoots seven-under…and loses!
It had to happen didn’t it? After singing the praises of Nick Watney this morning, Ryan Moore comes along and dumps him out of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship!
On the face of it, the defeat seems like a blow to my 33/1 tip for Watney to win this year’s Masters at Augusta National.
But look deeper and you’ll find that the American shot a superb seven-under par for the round and showed great fight to birdie the 17th and 18th to force extra holes.
Yet in Moore he faced a man on fire with the flat stick and a three at the par four first sealed the victory and a place in tomorrow’s quarterfinals against Luke Donald.
However, rounds of 67 and 65 from Watney are bound to give him plenty of confidence ahead of a return to Augusta in April. Not to mention beating the world number one Lee Westwood for a second year running in Round Two.
And the beauty of Match Play often ensures low scoring goes unnoticed, so Watney could become an even more inviting prospect if his price increases due today’s defeat.
I, for one, can’t wait to find out…
