Canadian rookie Hughes comes up clutch to win Sea Island

Hughes went the first 46 holes of the event without playing a hole over par. He had a clean round, with nine birdies and nine pars. He then began the back nine with a birdie on 10 to give himself a two-shot cushion.

The top-ranked Ko, the second-round leader after a 62, had a 73 to drop into a tie for third at 11 under with No. 2 Jutanugarn (65), In Gee Chun (68), Jennifer Song (66) and Lizette Salas (67).

Hughes had the best chance at a birdie on the 18th over the two playoff holes, though it wasn’t as easy as an ordinary 10-footer, not with darkness setting in. Four players held the lead at various times on a dramatic final day, including Spieth, who was playing the Australian Open for the third time.

After 72 holes, five players were tied on 265, 17 under.

After Norlander blasted onto the green, Hughes chipped from near the grandstands and immediately despaired when his shot landed short of the green 18 feet from the hole.

“That pitch on 12 was probably my shot of the day”, he said.

“It was quite a fight out there”, he said. But he holed out from there and watched on as the three others were unable to make their par putts. “But I am proud of the way I played”.

A captivating finale at the Sea Island Golf Club saw as many as five players finish three shots ahead of the rest of the field with Camilo Villegas, Henrik Norlander, Blayne Barber, Mackenzie Hughes and Billy Horschel all vying for the trophy.

But Hughes enjoys a challenge.

The green ran quickly downhill from where Hughes was shooting, adding an extra degree of difficulty.

“I was like, ‘This hole is never going to end, ‘” the 25-year-old told reporters.

Norlander fired a final-round 65 while Barber shot 66, Villegas and Horschel each fired 68s and Hughes, seeking a wire-to-wire win, closed with a 69. When it came down to Camilo, I was like ‘Oh my gosh, if he doesn’t make this, I’m the victor.’ I could hardly watch and I just kind of caught it out of the corner of my eye.

“So I just tried the best to make it and put something for them to look at”.

“As each guy went down, it was that much more real”, Hughes said. “But with Mackenzie, there was a certain maturity and professionalism about him after he won the Canadian Am that made him special…you and I think he just knew by then that he could make it to the PGA Tour”. “It was such a good feeling to see it go in”. Incredibly, Hull played the final 36 holes without dropping a single shot as she set a new tournament record score of 19 under par.

“It was huge. Just being in that atmosphere with those galleries”.

“I just pushed it a tiny bit”, he said. “You couldn’t buy that experience”.