PUTT-PUTT TO FULL THROTTLE
Kid from Abbotsford has grown into Canada’s best all-around golfer
The emergence of a reliable short game has boosted the career of Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin, who looks to be a PGA Tour contender for the foreseeable future
IERIN, Wis. dentifying your greatest faults and fixing them is not a journey for the faint of heart. Adam Hadwin achieved a life-long goal the day he qualified for 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 at No. 49, with a reputation in golf circles as a great putter and allaround good guy. 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 Abbotsford.
“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 long-standing tradition of conflating the athlete and the man. In some cases, we do it to avoid the disappointment of being let down by our idols. And sometimes 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,” Adam 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 Jessica for his son’s newfound peace. He says his daughter-in-law is a laidback person who will point out when her husband is bad-tempered 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 shudder when watching his son over short putts. The strength of Adam’s game growing up was always tee-to-green.
“I can remember my last instructor, when I was a teen and hitting 16, 17 greens but shooting two or three over par,” Adam 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. 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 US$2.8 million, and he’s 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 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 take an honest look at yourself, then turn your weaknesses into strengths?
“He’s a competitor and a true Canadian, for sure,” his dad added. “They’ve got guts, you know what I mean?”