Hadwin clinches first PGA Tour victory, honeymoon on hold
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[March 13, 2017]
(Reuters) - Canadian Adam Hadwin
overcame a late double-bogey to clinch his first victory on the PGA
Tour, a one-stroke win over American Patrick Cantlay at the Valspar
Championship in Florida on Sunday.
Hadwin made a one-foot tap-in par for the victory after Cantlay
bogeyed the par-four 18th, failing to get up-and-down from a
greenside bunker.
The Canadian carded a closing 71 to finish at 14-under-par 270 on
the Copperhead course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, with
Cantlay (68) second on 13-under.
Hadwin is the 14th Canadian to win on the PGA Tour. His victory
earns him an invitation to next month's Masters, which means he will
need to postpone his honeymoon planned for that week.
Hadwin had fallen back into a tie with Cantlay at the par-four 16th,
carving his drive into a water hazard and dropping two shots.
"I certainly didn’t knock myself out of the tournament but made it a
lot closer than I was liking it to be," the 29-year-old from Moose
Jaw, Saskatchewan told Golf Channel after giving his fiancée Jessica
a huge hug and kiss.
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"That (bad shot) came out of nowhere. I had striped it all day and
all week.
"I knew I needed to keep hitting some good shots. Proud of myself
for the way I hung in there. Lucky I had a tap-in on 18. I don’t
know if I’d have made it if it had been much further."
Cantlay, a former top ranked amateur, was downbeat after making a
mess of the last, where a poor approach shot followed by a mediocre
bunker shot left him with a 15-footer for par, which he missed.
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![](../images/031317pics/sports57.jpg)
Adam Hadwin with his tee shot on the 11th during the second round of
the Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament at TPC Scottsdale.
Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
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Playing on a medical extension on the PGA Tour after
battling a stress fracture in his back, the prize money he earned
for second place was enough to gain his card as a full playing
member.
"I guess it's the one positive from this week but I was just trying
to go out and win the golf tournament," said Cantlay. "Overall I
played really good golf."
Cantlay, 24, had experienced a tragedy last February when his caddie
Chris Roth was struck and killed by a car as the pair were crossing
a road in California.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina, editing by Gene
Cherry) [© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights
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