Growing up in rural Dixon, Nick Watney always wanted to play for his Uncle Mike at Fresno State.
“It was just a matter of being good enough,” Watney recalled of his boyhood golfing ambitions while on the practice range ahead of the Procore Championship in Napa this past September.
About 45 miles east of Napa, at par-67 Davis Golf Course, is where a young Watney honed his swing before attending Davis High School. He drew inspiration from watching his older cousin Josh, Mike’s son, play in a prestigious junior tournament at Pebble Beach. During family trips down I-5 to Fresno, Nick would test his game against Josh, who joined his dad’s program in 1997. Nick followed in 2000.
Now 44, Nick Watney has five PGA Tour wins over 20 seasons as a professional golfer, including the 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship. At the ISCO Championship in July, Watney became the 156th PGA Tour player to record 500 starts. The boy from Dixon who just wanted to compete against his cousin has become the most decorated golfer in Fresno State history.
“It was a perfect fit just coming from a small town,” Watney said of playing for his uncle at Fresno State. “I did not think I belonged when I first came out. That was a benefit because just getting there was a huge goal. My original plan was to redshirt. I ended up playing and then off I went.”
In September, a few U.S. Ryder Cup team members drew a gallery before their Tuesday practice rounds. Captain Keegan Bradley used the Procore Championship as a tuneup before the Europeans at Bethpage Black. For Watney, the event was a chance to regain PGA Tour status after spending much of his 2025 season on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Watney was once in conversations to represent the U.S. in major team events, having reached ninth in the world rankings in 2009 and two years later helping the U.S. to a Presidents Cup title.
“I’ve always been a bit naive or stubborn in that regard,” Watney said of his ability to compete with the best, despite now being 13 years removed from his last PGA Tour win (at The Barclays over Brandt Snedeker). “My game is actually improving. It’s the first time I can say that in a while.
“If there wasn’t a part of me that thought that (I can still compete), then I should probably hang ‘em up, you know? Part of me still thinks that’s possible. I’ve done it before, so why not?”
Through October, Watney’s best PGA Tour finish this season was a tie for 34th place at the Puerto Rico Open In July, he finished in a tie for 50th place at the Barracuda Championship in Truckee before his 12th missed cut of the season in Napa.
With four young children in Austin, Texas, leaving home for weeks at a time isn’t as easy as when Watney lived in Las Vegas. He appreciates the journey now, looking forward to playing courses on a fall schedule that he mostly skipped earlier in his career when retaining status wasn’t a concern.
At Fresno State, the Watney legacy carries on. Mike Watney, who retired in 2013 after 35 years of coaching, is in the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame. The men’s program, now coached by Nick’s college teammate Chad Spencer, has named its host event after NIck. In March, James Watney (Josh’s son) was runner-up at the Nick Watney Invitational.
“It's surreal,” Watney said of having a college tournament in his name, knowing the contributions his family members have made to the Fresno State golf program. “Only I feel like it should just be ‘The Watney.’ I definitely appreciate the gesture. It’s a bit overwhelming at the same time.”
