Jan 21, 2017
Hadwin eyes first PGA victory after historic round
While the excitement and thrill of a history-making 59 round will linger, Adam Hadwin now has one more task on Sunday – to win. As TSN's Bob Weeks writes, that win could mean more than the sub-60 round to the Canadian.
By Bob Weeks
In one word, Adam Hadwin described his round of 59 fired at La Quinta CC in the third round of the CareerBuilder Challenge.
“I don’t know. . . perfect I guess?” he said to Golf Channel’s Steve Sands.
If it wasn’t perfect, it was about as close as anyone has ever come to that. Hadwin logged 13 birdies to become just the eighth player in PGA Tour history to shoot below 60. He’s also just the fourth golfer to shoot 59 on a par-72 course.
“I don’t really know what to say yet,” Hadwin said moments after his par putt found the bottom of the cup on the 18th hole and he was cheered loudly by a large Canadian contingent of snowbirds. “I think everybody talks about kind of they were in a zone and I think that’s kind of what happened out there. I was thinking about it, I knew exactly where I was, I knew exactly what I needed to do, it just didn’t seem to matter.”
As he did most of last year, when he was probably the best Canadian on the PGA Tour, the Abbotsford, B.C. resident used a hot putter to complete his stellar round, using just 21 putts on the day. He started out tied for 49th, 10 shots back of the lead and made a charge that left him at the top of the leaderboard, one shot ahead.
“I just needed to play good golf,” said Hadwin of his mindset at the start of the day. “That started to happen and then I got focused on shooting 59.”
Hadwin opened with a par and then reeled off six straight birdies, adding one more for a front-nine 29. He moved to the back side where his game remained hot, as he added a birdie on the 11th.
“Once I walked off 11, the objective was to shoot 59,” he stated.
He followed the birdie on 11 with four more to push his score to 12 under. After missing a 10-footer on 16, he made a birdie on the 17th to get to 13-under - leaving him with a shot at 58.
His approach to the final green rolled just off the side of the green but a chip left him just three feet from history. He calmly stepped up and dropped the ball into the cup making him the only golfer without a PGA Tour victory to shoot 59.
“That was the most nervous I’ve ever been over a three-foot putt,” Hadwin admitted after the round. “The last thing I wanted to do was miss a three-footer for 59.”
While the excitement and thrill of a history-making round will linger, Hadwin now has one more task on Sunday – to win. Four of the eight previous 59-shooters have gone on to win the tournament. For Hadwin, a victory would be bigger and more important than his 59. It would come with a whole gaggle of extras including a two-year exemption and a spot in the Masters. He also wants to atone for last year when he had a share of the lead heading to the back nine. It will be the second straight year at this tournament that the 29-year-old will play in the final group on Sunday.
“I’m not sure how I’ll feel,” Hadwin said when asked about any extra pressure. “I think it makes tomorrow harder. They say one of the hardest things in golf is to follow up a low round. And I was one of nine guys to break 60 now, so I can’t go much lower. I think that I just have to figure out a way to get rid of it. I have to figure out a way to convince myself that I just shot 67 and take a one-shot lead, that I’m playing good golf right now and just keep doing my own thing.