Canada’s Adam Hadwin needed every shot of the four-stroke lead he had going into the final round at the Valspar Championship on Sunday. But it came down to the final hole, with Hadwin outlasting American Patrick Cantlay to win by a single shot for his first PGA Tour win.
Hadwin, 29, from Abbotsford, B.C., will soar up to world rankings (he was ranked 98th coming into the tournament), and moves into 4th on the FedEx Cup standings. He also punched his ticket for his debut at the Masters next month.
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.
READ MORE: Honeymoon on hold if Canadian golf star Adam Hadwin wins Valspar Championship
“I’m just hoping I can get my deposit back,” Hadwin said laughing during a press conference after the victory. “You laugh like I’m joking. I might have just made a big cheque, but I don’t like to throw money away.”
Hadwin becomes the second Canadian to win on the PGA Tour this season, following a win by Mackenzie Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., at the RSM Classic last November. Hadwin said the victory demonstrates just how strong Canadian golf is right now.
“It is really a win for the country and not just myself,” Hadwin said during a press conference after the victory. “I’m a part of a very special group on tour being Canadian. And it has been a while since we’ve had such success on tour as a group. Again today, there were a ton of Canadian fans all over the place.”
The win puts Hadwin in an elite place in the world of golf, making him not only the top-ranked Canadian, but also eligible for World Golf Championship events, and likely all four of golf’s major championships based on his world rankings. It also gives him a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
WATCH: Canada’s Adam Hadwin says he just wanted a chance to win
The victory was more harrowing than most expected. Cantlay, who was playing just his second event in more than two years since returning from a back injury, made a run at Hadwin on the back nine, making four birdies in the span of five holes. Hadwin, in turn, held his own.
“I just went out there today and just did what I do best which is make it super easy, outside of Hole 16,” Hadwin said.
With a two-shot lead heading into the final three holes, Hadwin hit what was likely his worst shot of the tournament, a 3-wood tee shot that went wide right and flew into the water. That led to a double-bogey—one of Hadwin’s few missteps in the entire tournament—and found the Canadian in a tie with Cantlay with two holes left.
READ MORE: Canada’s Adam Hadwin soars to lead at PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship
The pair both made pars on 17, and found the fairway with their drives on 18.
Cantlay’s approach on the 18th hole found a greenside bunker, while Hadwin’s shot ran just through the green. Cantlay hit a poor sand shot, and Hadwin rolled a bladed wedge with the ball stopping two feet from the cup. Cantlay couldn’t convert the putt, and Hadwin smoothly made the putt that found the bottom of his cup.
Though not hotly-tipped as an amateur, Hadwin burst onto the scene at the RBC Canadian Open in 2010 when he was low Canadian that year. The following year, in front of a supportive crowd, he contended for the Canadian Open, finishing in a tie for fourth. After a successful 2014 season on the Web.com Tour, where Hadwin had two wins, he emerged on the PGA Tour with a newly reworked short game.
But it wasn’t until this year that Hadwin elevated himself to among golf’s top stars. In January, he became only the eighth player in PGA Tour history to shoot less than 60, carding a 59 at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He held the lead going into the final round, but was bested by Hudson Swafford, finishing second. But that near miss made it clear to many that a win for Hadwin would come soon.
“I’ve worked my butt off to get here,” Hadwin said. “I’ve won at every level I’ve been on and now I can call myself a PGA Tour winner.”
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