Hadwin working on attitude adjustment
ERIN, Wis. — Identifying your greatest faults and fixing them is not a journey for the faint of heart.
Adam Hadwin achieved a lifelong goal the day he stepped onto the PGA Tour. All he’s done since then is turn his game inside out, turned weakness into strength, and turned into Canada’s best golfer.
“The biggest thing this year has been the attitude,” Hadwin said after completing a practice round at Erin Hills. “I just haven’t let things bother me as much as I have in the past. Missed shots, or missed putts, or whatever.”
In 10 seconds, Hadwin hit on everything that changed his golfing fortunes: Attitude and putting. The 2017 Valspar Championship winner is at Erin Hills playing in the U.S. Open on the strength of his world ranking. He entered the week 49th in the world with a reputation in golf circles as a great putter and all-around good guy. But it wasn’t always like that. “There’s not too many people that really liked him when he was 16 or 17 years old,” Hadwin’s dad Gerry said Tuesday over the phone from Ledgeview Golf Club in B.C.
“I don’t want to say he had a poor attitude but there were numerous times when, being in the golf industry for 38 years, I said, ‘You know what buddy, I’m not sure golf is going to be your sport. Because you can’t go hit somebody or something, you know.’ ”
We have a habit of trying to smooth out the rough edges of our sporting heroes, especially if they’re Canadian. It’s a longstanding tradition of conflating the athlete and the man. In some cases we do it because it’s a natural defence to avoid the disappointment of being let down by our idols. In other cases it’s a shame because it robs us of a more interesting, richer human story.
“Some of those intangibles off the golf course have helped, obviously,” Hadwin said. “My personal life has been very good recently. Getting married, I really think that coming into this year, starting back in the fall, everything’s just kind of been, I wouldn’t say in the zone, but it’s just go out and do my business. Enjoy it, have a good attitude.”
Gerry also credits Adam’s marriage and relationship with wife Jessica for his son’s newfound peace. He says his daughter-inlaw is a laid back person who will point out when her husband is badtempered on the course.
“She doesn’t know a lot about golf but she knows a lot about attitude,” Gerry said. “He’s come a long way.”
Hadwin’s two greatest weaknesses intersect in his father’s basement. The elder Hadwin estimates he still houses at least 15 bent and battered putters left for dead by his son over the years. Gerry, who is Director of Golf at Ledgeview, used to shutter when watching his son over short putts. The strength of Adam’s game growing up was always tee-togreen.
“I can remember my last instructor, when I was a teen and hitting 16, 17 greens but shooting two or three over par,” Hadwin said. “It was nothing for me to do that. I remember having a conversation with him, and he said, ‘Look, I’d love to coach you, I think you’ve got tremendous talent, but if you don’t work on your putting and you don’t get better I can’t help you anymore, because you’re not getting any better.’ It was a bit of a wake up call. Took me probably seven years after that to really figure it out.”
With all the focus in recent years on his putting and short game, Hadwin’s ball-striking fell off a touch but the 29-year-old seems more than happy with the trade off. This year the ball-striking is nearly back to where it once was and Hadwin is a more complete golfer than ever. He ranks 11th on the official PGA Tour money list with nearly $2.8 million, and is ninth in the FedExCup standings.
Despite a disappointing missed cut at Memorial at the beginning of the month, Hadwin feels his game is in good shape. Nothing is more important than putting at the U.S. Open and Erin Hills’ large, undulated greens will put extreme pressure on lag putting which has been a great strength during his hot streak.
This weekend, when you see Hadwin playing at the year’s second major, think about what you would do if you reached your life’s goal. Would you put it on cruise control? Or would you dare to take an honest look at yourself then turn your weaknesses into strengths?
“He’s a competitor and a true Canadian for sure,” added his dad. “They’ve got guts, you know what I mean?”
That’s one long-standing tradition we are absolutely fine endorsing.