Hadwin breaks duck in Florida
CANADIAN CLINCHES TITLE BY ONE SHOT Cantlay falls just short of what would have been his first win.
Canada’s Adam Hadwin captured his first US PGA title, parring Sunday’s final hole to win the Valspar Championship by one shot over American Patrick Cantlay.
A double bogey by Hadwin after finding water off the tee at the par-four 16th left the last-pair duo deadlocked, but Cantlay found a bunker at 18 and missed a 15-foot par putt, allowing Hadwin’s tap-in par to give him the victory.
“I don’t know what to say right now. I fully expected Patrick to make that putt,” Hadwin said.
Hadwin fired a level par 71 to finish 72 holes on 14-under 270 while Cantlay’s final-round closing 68 left him on 271 with Americans Jim Herman and Dominic Bozzelli sharing third on 272.
Cantlay, who just missed his first PGA crown, had been the world’s top-ranked amateur in 2012 but in 2013 suffered a stress fracture in a lower back vertebrae. He has battled back and returned with a share of 48th at Pebble Beach last month.
Hadwin, who fired a 59 in January at LaQuinta, began the day with a four-stroke lead.
He took a bogey at the par-four sixth, but bounced back with two birdies before a 53-foot birdie effort at the par-three 13th.
Cantlay stumbled with a bogey at six, before birdies on five of the next six holes to pull one shy of Hadwin with four holes left.
Cantlay found a bunker at the par-three 15th and made bogey.
Hadwin then found the water off the tee at the par-4 16th and missed a 25-foot putt for a double bogey that dropped him back into a share of the lead on 14-under.
At 18, Cantlay found a greenside bunker with a seven-iron from 168 yards while Hadwin was on the back fringe. Cantlay blasted out to 15 feet while Hadwin rolled inches from the cup. – AFP