Nick Watney took a month off in hopes it would heal his aching back, but it didn’t work.
So now the former All-American at Fresno State who grew up in Davis is going to sit out for the rest of the PGA Tour season because of what has been diagnosed as a herniated disc.
“I just don’t want it to turn into a chronic thing and have it every few years,” said Watney, who has won five times on the circuit. “I’m rehabbing. But I don’t want to have surgery, and that’s part of the reason I’m going to take the year off.
“I just want to rehab and get everything sorted out. I’ve never had to sit out this long, and so it stinks.”
Watney has played only twice this year, missing the cut in the CareerBuilder Challenge and the Farmers Insurance Open at the end of January on the West Coast Swing.
In five starts during the 2015-16 season, his best result was a tie for 11th in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas last October.
“I’m changing a lot of diapers,” said Watney, who has been helping his wife, Amber, with their two children, aged 2 years and eight months.
“I’m loving the basketball on all day. But it’s hard, because I like to do something active, but I don’t want to be too active. And I don’t want to get into the markets, because I’m not very good at it.”
Watney’s last victory came in the 2012 Barclays during the FedEx Cup playoffs.
