Canadian PGA Tour golf stars Graham DeLaet and Adam Hadwin take readers behind the scenes of the PGA Tour over the course of the year on Globalnews.ca, providing insights, perceptions and observations as they battle at the game’s biggest tournaments.
Yes, the Players Championship this week is a big deal, and it’s the first one I’ve played, so that makes it even more significant. I’d love to say I’m treating it like any other event, but I’ve got my family flying in and have rented a house where we’re all staying, so it clearly isn’t like just another week on the PGA Tour.
In fact, I’m treating it like my major this year—it is that important. I’ve played two U.S. Opens so far, so I’m not a stranger to big events, but to be a card-carrying member of the PGA Tour and playing in such a prestigious event is very special. It is great to be able to share the experience with my family.
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The trick is that when I’m playing I need to treat it like just another event and not put it on a pedestal. That will be a challenge, especially playing in my first one.
Of course, having my parents there, as well as my brother, my grandmother and my aunt, changes the dynamic somewhat. My family has supported me since I started playing golf when I was 13. They understand how a tournament works and what I need to do to be prepared. But, I thought given how significant the tournament is, and that it ends on Mother’s Day, it would be a good time to get everyone together. It isn’t often they all come to watch. I’m sure they aren’t expecting to spend a lot of time with me—they know I’m there to win. But even spending a little bit of time with them throughout the week will take my mind off golf and let me relax. I don’t see them all that often during my busy summers, so that will be nice as well.
I expect they’ll walk part of the rounds with me, depending on how hot it is in Florida. My brother and dad will walk with me the entire time, but I’m not sure about my Grandmother Helen, who turns 80, and my Aunt Donna. Maybe they’ll just camp out and watch the best players in the world. Not a bad way to spend a day.
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And yes, the tournament ends on Mother’s Day, which influenced my decision to have everyone join me this week. We have a house not far from the beach, so I doubt they’ll hang around the course all week. They can come and go as they please and take in the tournament when they want to.
My mom hasn’t had much impact on how I play the game on the course—but she’s been a huge influence off of it. She’s only played twice in her life—at a couple of corporate outings with Sears. But the biggest thing she’s done is support me along the journey. She’s one of my biggest fans and supported what I was doing and helped me get through college. It was more than financial. They allowed me to play golf as a junior and not work and not have to worry about entry fees or how I would get to the next tournament. My dad would drive me to tournaments, but none of it would have happened without a strong support system at home and my mom provided that. She was there supporting me 100% of the time and she’s pretty excited to come and watch me play. She doesn’t come often. It is a bigger deal when she comes to a tournament. She came to watch me at the U.S. Open in 2013 in Philadelphia and again last year at a Web.com Tour event in Halifax. But, as I said, she doesn’t get out very often.
Having me on the PGA Tour isn’t a big deal to my mother, or at least she doesn’t let on that it is. I actually think for her it doesn’t matter what I am doing, as long as I’m happy doing it and putting my effort toward something I wanted to do. I know she’s proud of my accomplishments, but it isn’t something she focuses on.
I’ll give you an example. Earlier this year I had a stretch where I played pretty well for a number of weeks in a row. When I went home and said I was tired, my mother told me I was playing too much and making every cut.
“Maybe you should just miss a cut or two,” she said seriously. I laughed, but it was nice that she was concerned about me.
Those are the words of wisdom only a mother can provide and it’ll be great to have her with me for support this week.
Adam Hadwin and Graham DeLaet are both playing at The Players Championship which airs on Global TV this weekend.
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