Aug 15, 2016
Hughes earns his own golden moment
As TSN Golf Analyst Bob Weeks writes, it wasn’t a medal but for Mackenzie Hughes, winning on the Web.com Tour on Sunday was still golden.
By Bob Weeks
It wasn’t a medal but for Mackenzie Hughes, winning on the Web.com Tour on Sunday was still golden.
Hughes took the Price Cutter Charity Championship on Sunday, making a birdie on the 72nd hole for the victory. It moved the Dundas, Ont., product to 14th on that circuit’s money list, all but guaranteeing him a PGA Tour card for the 2016-17 season.
“It’s hard to put into words -- I can’t really yet,” Hughes said a few hours after his victory in Missouri. “I just know that the win accomplished a lifetime goal to be a member of the PGA Tour. “
Hughes win came after some consistent play over the four rounds. He made just two bogeys all week and played his final 48 holes in 16 under par.
On Sunday, he was four under on his front nine and added another birdie on the 10th but he wasn’t on the victory podium just yet.
His closest competitor, Richy Werenski, dropped a 15-foot eagle putt on the 18th to tie things up. That’s when Hughes added a final birdie for a one-shot win.
“It was such a hard day,” admitted Hughes. “Knowing what was on the line, knowing that if I won, I was on the PGA Tour. “It was hard to sleep on, hard to think about.”
Hughes said that keeping his mind from racing ahead and thinking about the spoils of the win was difficult, but something he was able handle.
“You never know how you’re going to react in that situation,” he said.
“I’d won tournaments before and no matter what tour you’re on, the things that you do to win a tournament are the same. You have to be that much more disciplined.
“The whole week my thought was good breathing. You kind of take that for granted. I used that to slow my heart rate down and I felt calm in some stressful moments.”
The win is the second for a Canadian on the Web.com Tour this year. Brad Fritsch of Manotick, Ont., took top spot at a tournament in April. He holds 10th spot on the circuit’s money list.
Hughes, a two-time Canadian Amateur champion, was the money leader on the 2013 Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada, earning a promotion to the Web.com Tour. However, he struggled and dropped back to the Canadian circuit, eventually getting another shot on the Web.com Tour again through the fall qualifying school.
His season hadn’t been all that stellar so far though, with just a single top-10 finish and missed cuts in nine of 19 starts. During one stretch earlier this year, he missed the cut in six of seven starts. Financially, he was barely breaking even on his year. The $121,000 cheque he won will change that.
It will also help out at another event he has coming up – Hughes is getting married in two months.
For now, he’ll enjoy this victory but he still has some important golf left to play. The Web.com Tour’s four-tournament, season-ending stretch starts Sept. 8. That will determine his final position among the graduates heading to the PGA Tour and the higher the finish, the more tournaments he’ll get into early next season.