• AT&T National, Round Four

Watney excels as Fowler crumbles at AT&T National

Nick Watney broke the course record during his four days at the AT&T National © Getty Images

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Nick Watney's excellent year got better on Sunday as he marched to victory by two strokes at the AT&T National.

The world No. 15 began 2011 with two PGA Tour titles to his name, but that figure has now been doubled in the first seven months of the year after he added the AT&T crown to his March triumph in the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

Starting the final round as joint leader alongside Rickie Fowler, Watney stayed steady as Fowler capitulated, clearly feeling the pressure of chasing his maiden PGA Tour crown. A four-under round of 66 was enough to clinch the trophy for Watney, who completed the 72 holes in a winning score of 13-under.

The American had smashed the course record 24 hours previously, returning to the clubhouse in 62. This time Watney's accuracy was less impressive off the tee, and his approaches to the green were understandably less ambitious as he set about defending his advantage.

Three birdies on the front nine left the rest of the field knowing they would need to post something special to catch the leader, and a string of pars on Watney's way back to the clubhouse showed the nerve of a man who was comfortable with closing out a lead, helped by a birdie four at the 16th.

By contrast, Fowler's challenge ended almost as soon as it had begun at the Aronimink Golf Course, plummeting to three-over through the first four holes. The youngster's putter completely betrayed him as a double-bogey at the par-four second was followed by a bogey at the fourth.

Two more dropped shots sandwiched an all-too-rare birdie on the inward nine as Fowler fell down the leaderboard. An eventual four-over 74 will be hard to digest as he finished on five-under.

Watney's biggest challenge eventually emerged from KJ Choi and Jeff Overton, both of whom trailed by two strokes going into the final three holes. Overton threatened an unlikely turnaround when five birdies through the first 12 took him within one shot of Watney, but back-to-back bogeys at 14 and 15 effectively numbed his threat as he finished on nine-under alongside Charles Howell III and Adam Scott.

Choi too will have plenty of regrets after he levelled with Watney with four to play, only to throw his hard work away with a double bogey at the par-four 15th. Choi's iron play was as good as it had been all week, but he lost composure on the tee and that cost him dear as he settled for second place on 11-under.

Justin Rose could not force his way into the top ten as he failed to produce a repeat of Saturday's excellent 65. He certainly threatened it when birdying three of the first seven holes, but bogeys either side of the turn limited him to a one-under 69 that left him on an overall score of four-under.

Brian Davis' final round summed up his week as he carded a two-over 72 to settle on three-over for the tournament. The Brit suffered a horror show with his driving on Sunday, finding less than 40 per cent of fairways as he battled around the course.

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