Hadwin departs U.S. Open on low
ERIN, Wis. — After an opening round to remember, Adam Hadwin’s U.S. Open finished with a round to forget.
On Sunday, the Abbotsford, B.C. native made three double bogeys in a row beginning at the eighth hole and finished the championship at nine-over par, with an eight-over final round of 80.
“You kind of just take today with a grain of salt, laugh it off as best you can and try to just forget about it,” Hadwin said. “Almost as if it didn’t happen and then get right back into it next week.”
Hadwin, who credits his marriage and a better attitude for this breakthrough season, was nearly running out of his new-found patience by the end of week. The 29-yearold, who feels his game is very close, will grit his teeth and head to next week’s Travelers Championship hoping for better results.
Despite the difficult finish, Hadwin leaves Erin Hills with a share of the U.S. Open record for consecutive birdies after making six in a row during his four-under 68 on Thursday.
“It seems so long ago but to be just ho-humming along a couple over par and be able to reel off six in a row when I did, it just sort of shows me that it’s there,” he said.
Hadwin had at least one lighter moment on Sunday when fans serenaded him with O Canada at the third hole.
“Obviously, the Canadian fans are incredible,” he said. “The support we get, not only myself but every Canadian, whether we’re playing well or playing poorly.”
A real U.S. Open
Don’t tell Hadwin this wasn’t a real U.S. Open. The Canadian had great things to say about Erin Hills and believes it’s a fantastic venue for a major championship.
“I absolutely love this golf course,” he said. “To me, what makes a great golf course is you can shoot 66 and you can shoot 78 just as easily. I love that about Muirfield Village which I think is a great example as well. What people saw for the first three rounds was not indicative of what this golf course can be like.”
The heavy winds on Sunday gave players and fans a taste of the type of test Erin Hills can offer. Aside from the wind, Hadwin said that the course would be very different if it were firm and fast as well.
“In some people’s minds they just want to see just flat out carnage at a U.S. Open,” Hadwin said. “To me, as long as you have the best players in the world and you have a difficult golf course, everybody has a fair shot at it.”
Cha-ching!
Any time you go home from a golf tournament with a million-dollar cheque there’s usually a trophy to go along with it. Not this week at the U.S. Open, where the second-place prize at Erin Hills was US$1.3 million. The winner will walk into his bank with an oversized cheque for $2.16 million.
Until this week, there had never been a winning prize of more than $2 million in golf. To put that number in perspective — if that’s even possible — Arnold Palmer made $2,130,239 during his career on the PGA Tour.
Beer, please
A week before the U.S. Open, Postmedia spoke to one of the designers of Erin Hills, Dana Fry, and he explained that the sprawling 652-acre golf course is by far the biggest site a major has ever been held on. One criticism Fry thought the players might have is the long, gruelling walk.
Justin Thomas weighed in on the hike after his record-setting 9-under 63 on Saturday.
“It’s up there with Kapalua (in Hawaii) as the hardest walk, I know that,” Thomas said. “It’s long and there’s lots of terrain, but it’s such a cool course standing on the tee.”