Co-leaders share instructor but are otherwise completely different

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Badz/PGA TOUR

Instructor Butch Harmon calls his student Nick Watney a great competitor who's not afraid to go low.

DORAL, Fla. -- Butch Harmon was supposed to be in the tower an hour before Sky Sports coverage of the World Golf Championships-CA Championship began.

The legendary instructor and part-time TV commentator eventually arrived with 15 minutes to spare. But considering that two of Harmon's students, Phil Mickelson and Nick Watney, were in Saturday's final group, no one minded that he was late.

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Harmon estimated he spent about 20 minutes on the range with Mickelson, who held a two-stroke lead, and another 10 with Watney. Both were obviously hitting the ball well so no major adjustments were necessary.

"I wanted to make sure they were relaxed," Harmon said. "I wanted to see if either had any anxiety, and neither one of them did."

Mickelson later had a slightly different, and more humorous, take on the interaction between the three, though.

"Nick does the 25-minute preround warm-up, so he hits all of 11 shots before he goes and plays," Mickelson said with a grin. "So he requires about 90 seconds from Butch, and I'll end up taking the other however many minutes."

Not that Mickelson necessarily needs any extra time with Harmon, though. He's been supremely confident this week -- holding at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds and putting that devastating good short game on display at every opportunity.

"Right now it's been great, because I don't feel like we've really been working on anything," Mickelson said. "It's just been keeping an eye on it and making sure that I'm doing what we've worked on."

So teacher and students are obviously doing something right. Mickelson won his 35th PGA TOUR event earlier this year at the Northern Trust Open. Watney had picked up his second two weeks earlier when he closed with a 68 to win the Buick Invitational.

Still, the two players, who enter Sunday's final round at Doral's Blue Monster tied for the lead at 16 under and with a chance to win their first World Golf Championships event, couldn't be more different.

Mickelson is a larger-than-life character with an engaging and adventurous side whose fan following rivals that of Tiger Woods. Watney, on the other hand, is quiet with a wide-eyed, aw-shucks demeanor that belies the fire that burns inside.

Until Saturday, Watney probably could have walked the halls at the Doral without anyone recognizing him. Ask him what he'd say if someone called him "vanilla," though, and Watney will tell you that person wouldn't know him very well.

"Golf is what I love to do," Watney said. "To be in a situation like this is where I want to be. Maybe I should start wearing flashier clothes. But Tiger wears things that are fairly conservative -- and a lot of people know him."

Watney now lives in Las Vegas, where Harmon's teaching facility is located. He worked particularly hard during the offseason on his putting and short game, even picking Jose Maria Olazabal's brain when he came to Rio Secco Golf Club to practice.

Harmon has known Watney since the 27-year-old was a senior at Fresno State, where he played for his uncle Mike and was the nation's top-ranked collegian that year. When Harmon recently trimmed his client list, Watney was among those who made the cut.

"I like the kid," Harmon said. "I see a lot of potential in him. As you can see, he's one of the nicest guys around. It took me two years to get him to stop calling me Mr. Harmon."

Together, the two have weakened Watney's grip so he can fade the ball. They've also utilized a putting track that helps him keep him from hooding the face of his putter. In fact, a 25-minute session on Wednesday before Harmon went to work with another high-profile client, Ernie Els, was just the reinforcement Watney needed.

"Nick is a great competitor, and he's not afraid to go low," Harmon said. "He said after he won at Buick that he really enjoyed being in the hunt. That's why he was looking forward to this round today."

Harmon first started working with Mickelson at the CA Championship two years ago. The two got together on one of the other courses at Doral since Mickelson was still affiliated with another swing coach before taking their relationship public.

"I've learned a lot from him," Mickelson said. "It's taken some time to be able to increase clubhead speed and still match it up with my shot ... match it up with my swing, if you will. ... We are basically done with our changes and it's keeping things in check."

Harmon said he's never seen Mickelson as confident as he is right now.

"He is having fun," Harmon said. "He's got a lot of confidence in what we're doing. He won L.A. not having his strong game, which was important. Everything we're doing right now is geared toward the Masters. "

Mickelson and Watney have crossed paths, even played a few holes together, at Harmon's teaching facility in Vegas. But Sunday, while they will probably keep the sports-related banter going, will be a whole different challenge.

"I learned a lot from him, but I think the biggest thing I learned was how in the present he stays and he hits a poor shot or whatever, and he may react to it a little bit. But he's always looking forward to the next shot," Watney said.

"I was also impressed with ... obviously, he gets this kind of attention all the time, and he's able to stay focused. So those are the two biggest things."

Mickelson returned the compliments. He says Watney is one of the TOUR's strongest young players, as well as one of its nicest guys.

"He has a complete game and is a good, solid iron player as well as good short game, chipping and putting," he said. "There's really not any weaknesses in his game."

So what will Harmon be thinking on Sunday?

"All you can do is prepare them to play," Harmon said. "... And you hope it comes down to the last hole with them tied and one of them makes a putt to win."