Nick Watney has come a long way since those teenage days when he played golf for $5 a round at the 4,900-yard Davis, Calif., municipal course. In fact, Watney, a 22-year-old Fresno State all-American, has come all the way to the FBR Capital Open this week at TPC at Avenel to make his professional debut and launch what many believe will be a long and prosperous PGA Tour career.

Watney will play on one of eight sponsor exemptions granted by the tournament, but he hardly will be alone in feeling a tad jittery when he steps up to the first tee Thursday. Two other top college golfers -- D.J. Trahan of Clemson, which recently won the NCAA team championship, and Troy Matteson, the 2002 individual NCAA winner from Georgia Tech -- also are making their first starts as playing pros here.

Watney is not quite as well known nationally if only because his school is not considered among college golf's elite programs. But he is a three-time all-American who won five tournaments this season and had a 2003 stroke average of 69.88 per round, ranking him No. 5 all time for a single season, just ahead of No. 6 Phil Mickelson (69.89 in 1991-92).

In the Avenel locker room yesterday, Watney was looking a bit wide-eyed at both his surroundings and some of the better-known players wandering through.

"I'm trying to take it all in," he said. "It's only Monday, and not much is supposed to be happening. But a lot of players are already here, and I wish we could start right now. Yeah, I'm a little nervous, but this has been a dream of mine, so it's a good nervous, not a scared nervous.

"You have to think you can play at this level, or else it would be hard to compete. I hope after this week, more people will know about me. The bigger the stage you're on, the more attention you get, and there's no bigger stage than the PGA Tour."

The road to PGA Tour fame and fortune is littered with countless young phenoms who eventually flared out. But the man who helped get Watney started in all of this believes he can't miss. Never mind that Mike Watney, a former tour pro who happened to be his golf coach at Fresno State, is also Nick's uncle. This is not about family, Mike said. It's all about his nephew's talent, demeanor and work ethic.

"I know how super those guys out there really are," said Mike Watney, who will arrive here Wednesday to join Nick's parents in the gallery this week. "I truly believe Nick is one of those guys who can play at that level. You see a lot of people who hit the ball well and putt well, but the whole package isn't there. Nick is an especially good driver of the ball, very accurate, and once he gets over any nervousness about being out there, I think he's a pretty darned good putter, too."

Georgia Tech Coach Chris Haack, who coached Watney last year in the Palmer Cup competition, also is a huge fan.

"If golf were the NFL, Nick might be the number one draft pick out of college," he recently told Golf World magazine. "He's athletic, hits the ball as far as anyone and putts like a fiend. He's got the tools, plus, he's the nicest guy you'll ever meet."

In terms of golf, he also comes from rather humble beginnings. He didn't start playing until he was 13, when he became enamored with the game after watching his uncle Mike and cousin Josh, three years older and also a fine Fresno State player, on the golf course. Because he did not travel the national junior circuit, he was not much recruited out of high school.

"I wanted to play for my uncle anyway," Watney said. "I didn't take offense at all when a lot of schools didn't call. I really had never proven myself nationally. But in the end, everything worked out for the best for me. I had my questions when I went to Fresno State. I didn't want any favoritism on the team because my uncle was the coach. He treated me like a player on the team, not a nephew.

"College golf was just perfect for me. I traveled and I learned a whole lot about life on the road, how to rest, how to practice. It was so valuable to me, it's really hard to even describe it."

It may also be difficult to understand how excited he is to be playing as a professional. He has an agent, Arizona-based Gaylord Sports Management. And Titleist, his main sponsor, has told him he will have enough funds beyond any purse money he wins to keep honing his game for a long while.

He is allowed seven sponsor exemptions and has three more at the B.C. Open, Greater Hartford Open and Canadian Open. He'll try to qualify for the U.S. Open today at Woodmont, and his goal is to earn enough money -- about $500,000 -- to secure his playing card for next year. If not, he'll go to Qualifying School. He shot a 69 at yesterday's Toyota Pro-Am and his team finished fourth

As for expectations this week, Watney said: "I'm trying to learn as much as possible. I don't want to say I just want to make the cut, because that lowers your expectations. Everyone here wants to win, and I'm no different. I was just talking to Troy [Matteson], and we're both like 'Wow!' We're asking questions, trying to learn how to do it out here. I'm glad he and D.J. are playing, too. They're both good guys and great players."

Will they make friendly wagers on who has the best score this week?

"No, I don't think so," he said. "I don't have any money to make any side bets."