Hadwin hoping for big finishing kick to his season
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Adam Hadwin is back on familiar territory this week and he’s hoping his old golf game will come along.
While most of the top names in golf are playing at the Genesis Scottish Open across the Atlantic, Hadwin is in the opposite-field event, the ISCO Championship, being played in Louisville, Ky. The Canadian played his collegiate golf for the University of Louisville and often teed it up at the Hurstbourne Country Club course, site of this week’s tournament.
“It's always a lot of fun coming back to such a familiar place,” he said on Wednesday. “Being back here at Hurstbourne, to a course we played a few times a semester and qualified on and everything, so brings back a lot of memories.”
Hadwin is playing here this week because his season so far has been lacking. He sits 129th on the FedEx Cup standings, which isn’t high enough for him to qualify to play in Scotland. His struggles are such that he is in danger of losing his full playing privileges for the 2026 season. He is hoping for a turnaround this week in familiar territory.
“I could certainly use some good vibes for my year right now,” he said.
The top 70 in the standings qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs which start August 7 in Memphis, while the top 100 finishers retain full playing privileges for 2026.
Four other Canadians – Corey Conners, Nick Taylor, Mackenzie Hughes and Taylor Pendrith – are currently well inside the top 70. Hadwin, along with Adam Svensson (166) and Ben Silverman (167), needs a strong finishing kick.
“I'll be honest with you,” Hadwin admitted. “I've kind of reached a point where I don't have much to lose now. I've kind of pinned myself so far back into a corner that I've almost reached a point where playoffs, I think, would be some spectacular kind of thing at this point.”
The Abbotsford, B.C., product hasn’t had to worry about his position in the standings for some time. In 2024, he ended up 47th, and the year prior, 45th. The last time he was outside the top 100 in the standings was 2015.
“I'm almost thinking more year-end being top 100 and over these next four weeks just really trying to gain some momentum, put myself in a position for some good finishes just to kind of get the train moving forward,” said Hadwin.
Part of the reason for his struggles has been his work with coach Mark Blackburn, one of the game’s top teachers. His advice to Hadwin hasn’t connected as the two would like and the struggles have played out on the course. He has missed six cuts in 19 starts with just a single top-10 finish, that coming at the Genesis Invitational back in February.
At the RBC Canadian Open, Hadwin talked about finally being comfortable with his game. He also made the cut at his next two starts, the Travelers Championship and the Rocket Classic, although both finishes were well down the leaderboard. He missed the cut at the John Deere last week.
With four tournaments left on the PGA Tour schedule, Hadwin will have to turn those mediocre finishes into ones near the very top of the leaderboard.
“To continue that streak of making playoffs,” he said, “I'm going to have to do something special over these next four weeks.”
He’s hoping coming back to a familiar place in Louisville will help kick start a final push to his season.