Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin wins first PGA Tour championship

Jason Dufner birdied his last two holes for a 67 to tie for 11th and qualify for Match Play. The putt went down and Hadwin had won with a 14-under 270 total.

The win was Hadwin’s first on the PGA Tour and he will now earn a start at next month’s Masters at Augusta.

“That was huge. To end on that, a ton of momentum going into tomorrow”, the native of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan told NBC television after using his cross-handed putting stroke to sink a six-footer to save par at the last. He was three shots behind and shared one highlight that had nothing to do with golf.

Speaking about his chances of victory, Hadwin said, “If I can have a chance (Sunday) coming down the 18th hole, I’m going to be really happy with the way I played”. “It’s amusing, which came first: Me enjoying life and playing better golf, or playing better golf and enjoying life”.

Patrick Cantlay and Jim Herman are the closest to possibly overtaking Hadwin at four and five shots behind, respectively.

“That kind of came out of nowhere”, Hadwin said. “I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing more tournaments”.

Smith shot weekend rounds of 72-72 to finish T49 while John Senden, Aaron Baddeley, Greg Chalmers, Steven Bowditch and Geoff Ogilvy all missed the cut. “But I just didn’t hit it solid enough, and splash”.

None of the fight in Hadwin surprised Nick Taylor, his old pal from their Ledgeview Golf Club days in Abbotsford, who hung around with David Hearn and their wives to root on Hadwin on TV. That resulted in a double bogey that dropped the Canadian into a tie for the lead with Cantlay. “I just wanted a chance to win on 18 and that’s what I had, but I thought it would take a birdie to win it”. “And you know, that’s what I love doing out there”. Hadwin went just long with his approach but coaxed down his third shot to 2-and-a-half feet for par. It would also give him a start in the WGC-Matchplay but his wedding is scheduled for the Friday.

Hadwin, who gets married in less than two weeks to his fiancé Jessica, had planned to be on honeymoon during the Masters, but that’s clearly changed. He failed to get up-and-down and, when Hadwin managed to save his par from off the back edge, the title was his. “You laugh like I’m joking; I’m serious here. I might have just made a big cheque, but I don’t like to throw money away”.