Final PGA Tour event goes another day in 4-man playoff

Next up, Mackenzie Hughes’ tee shot also tracked to the left, bouncing through the green and into the short rough near a drainage hole. The next shot was so fat it only went about 40 yards into another bunker. However, he drained the long putt and then watched as the rest of the field missed theirs. And then he three-putted from 50 feet and his lead had vanished.

No problem. He’d get another chance in the five-man playoff at the RSM Classic. “Congratulations to him. He played well”.

“It was so dark, that last putt I hit, was to the middle of the hole – hit it firm, I had no clue where it was going”, Villegas said. He didn’t collect his first bogey until the back nine on Saturday.

The strategy worked according to plan. The next morning, he was the only player who was never on the green at the par-3 17th until his ball was in the cup.

Camilo Villegas, Henrik Norlander and Blayne Barber all missed their own makeable tries, crowning Hughes, a 2016-17 rookie, a surprising victor. “I thought basically it was my last chance”.

“I’m trying to make as many birdies as I can and give myself those opportunities”. “Mackenzie made a great putt there”. “Because if I follow that up with a bogey, the wheels start to come off even more”. “He texted back and said ‘I have become more patient. I saw it graze the right lip and I was just at a loss for words”. All of them found the putting surface, with Hughes hitting a glorious shot right over the flag. Incredibly, Hull played the final 36 holes without dropping a single shot as she set a new tournament record score of 19 under par. Ko said. “That’s why no matter what position I am, I’m the chaser”.

But he wrote on Twitter a few minutes later, “I didn’t take my time over that short putt”. “He started here as a six- or seven-year-old on our par 3 course, [but] I think it was probably a couple years after he went to college that I knew there was something special about him”.

The win will seem improbable considering Hughes’ background.

“I just got to stay patient”. The 2012 graduate and PGA Tour rookie took home $1.08 million and a three-year Tour exemption, along with invitations to The Masters, The PGA Championship, and The Players Championship. “This is a huge thrill for us and our members”, said John Kirkwood, head professional at Dundas Valley Golf and Country Club, where Hughes grew up and learned the game. “There are just too many good things that go along with the win”.