PALM HARBOR, FLA. ? Nick Watney is playing so well that he doesn’t even realize it.

Coming off a wrenching one-shot loss to Phil Mickelson at Doral, Watney kept right on tack Friday with a 4-under 67 at the Transitions Championship to share the 36-hole lead with Steve Stricker.

“I guess I’m playing very well, but it really seems like this is just what I’m supposed to be doing,” Watney said.

It will be the third straight weekend round that Watney will be in the final group. He played with Mickelson the last two rounds at the CA Championship, and it might not get any easier at Innisbrook.

Stricker, who also had a bogey-free 67, is playing quite well this year, too.

Take away one bad patch — a 77 in the last round to lose the Bob Hope Classic, followed by a missed cut in Phoenix — and Stricker has shot par or better in every round this year. This was his 10th straight sub-par round.

They were at 6-under 136 on a Copperhead Course that is among the strongest tests on tour.