Hadwin, Taylor hoping to join Masters field
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As Jim Carrey famously said in Dumb and Dumber, “So, you’re telling me there’s a chance?”
That’s the feeling Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor are carrying into this week’s WGC Dell Technologies Match Play event. It’s perhaps the duo’s best last opportunity to earn a spot in the field at the Masters.
It’s also a chance for them to set a record for the number of Canadians in the Masters. Four is the current complement, equalling the most to play in the year’s first major.
You can catch coverage of the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play beginning with Day 1 coverage on Wednesday with PGA Tour Live on TSN+, available now for a limited-time free preview, through Saturday with coverage of the finals set for Sunday at 3pm et/noon pt on TSN3, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
Hadwin sits 63rd on the Official World Golf Ranking while Taylor, who posted a top-10 finish at last week’s Valspar Championship, is 67th. In order to make it into the field at the Masters, they need to end up in the top 50 on the global list after this week’s tournament.
That’s a tall task, as movement up and down the ranking is more often in small increments except when there’s a top finish. For the two Canadians, it would take at least a semifinal appearance to earn enough points.
“I’m not going in thinking about where I need to finish,” Hadwin said after the Players Championship. “Hopefully I play well, and when it’s over, we’ll see if that’s enough.”
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The way the match play brackets are laid out, Hadwin and Taylor would play each other in the round of 16. That means that the possibility of both somehow reaching the semifinals is non-existent.
To get out to the round of 16, each needs to win his group stage. Hadwin is up against Sam Burns, Adam Scott, and Seamus Power. Taylor plays Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, and K.H. Lee. One player from each foursome advances.
Both golfers are enjoying strong seasons. Hadwin has three top-10 finishes and is 56th in the FedEx Cup standings. Taylor has finished inside the top 10 four times, including a runner-up finish at the WM Phoenix Open. He is 21st in the FedEx Cup rankings.
Currently there are four Canadians set to play the Masters. Mike Weir is in by virtue of his win, which took place 20 years ago. He will be joined by Corey Conners, who gained entry by virtue of finishing inside the top 12 last year. It marked the third consecutive year that he has ended up inside the top 10.
Mackenzie Hughes and Adam Svensson will also be there as they both won tournaments earlier this season to earn their spot in the field.
Four equals the record for the most Canadians in the Masters field. The last time that happened was in 2020, when Weir, Taylor, Hadwin and Conners teed it up. It also occurred in 1965 when Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Gary Cowan, and Nick Weslock played.
One last spot into the Masters will be awarded to the winner of next week’s Valero Texas Open, if that player is not already qualified. That’s something Conners did back in 2019. Neither Hadwin nor Taylor had committed to that tournament but neither one had ruled it out. They must commit by Friday at 5 pm ET.