Europe/Asia:
Adam Hadwin only wanted a chance to win on the final hole Sunday at the Valspar Championship. He could have done without the self-inflicted drama.
Hadwin lost a two-shot lead at the 16th hole when his tee shot sailed into the water and led to double bogey. The 29-year-old Canadian kept his wits and closed with two pars, the final one good enough for a one-shot victory over Patrick Cantlay in Palm Harbor, Fla.
His first tour victory sends him to the Masters for the first time, even if it means altering a honeymoon trip to Tahiti. Hadwin is getting married March 24.
“I just wanted a chance to win coming up the last, and I had that chance,” he said.
Hadwin closed with a par 71, and it was work to the end. Tied for the lead, and with Cantlay having come up short into a bunker, Hadwin went just over the back of the green against the collar of the fringe. He used the leading edge of a sand wedge to send it down the slope to 2 feet from the cup.
Cantlay came up well short and missed his 15-foot par putt to force a playoff. He closed with a 68.
The consolation prize for Cantlay was a runner-up finish that paid $680,400, more than enough for him to secure full status for the rest of the year. The former No. 1 amateur was playing for only the second time since 2014 because of a stress fracture in his back
Even in loss, it was a bright return for the UCLA star. Cantlay wondered if his back would ever allow him to regain his game, and he endured an even greater burden a year ago February when his best friend and caddie, Chris Roth, was struck and killed by a car as they were walking to a restaurant for dinner in California.
“It doesn’t really feel like much consolation at the moment,” Cantlay said about securing his card. “I didn’t finish the deal.”
Hadwin finished at 14-under 270 after a duel that featured big putts along the back nine of the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook.
The Canadian had a fourshot lead when Cantlay started to apply pressure with an approach into 3 feet at No. 9 and a 15-foot birdie putt to start the back nine. Cantlay had 7 feet for a third straight birdie on the par-5 11th when Hadwin holed a birdie putt from 25 feet to keep a two-shot lead.
The big blow appeared to come at the par-3 13th, where Cantlay hit a 7-iron at the flag and came up about 8 feet short. Hadwin played it safe out to the fat of the green, and his 55-foot putt swirled into the cup to keep the lead at two shots when Cantlay made his birdie
Cantlay made his fifth birdie in six holes with a 20-footer on the par-5 14th, only to fall two behind again with another poor bunker shot on the 15th.
Jim Herman (68) and tour rookie Dominic Bozzelli (67) tied for third, two strokes behind Hadwin. Tony Finau closed with a 64 to finish alone in fifth, though that likely will narrowly keep him out of the Dell Match Play in two weeks.
S.S.P. Chawrasia successfully defended his Indian Open title in New Delhi, finishing with a 10-under-par 278 for a seven-stroke victory.
Chawrasia held a two-shot lead when he completed his weather-delayed third round Sunday morning before closing with 71 in the last round. Malaysia’s Gavin Green finished second but never came close to challenging Chawrasia. Green shot 75 as he earned his first European Tour top-10 finish.