Hadwin ‘battling through it’ in his first Masters appearance

AUGUSTA, Ga. — After his first two rounds at Augusta National Golf Club, Adam Hadwin focused on the positive.

But a third straight round above par had him searching for answers on Saturday.

“I’m really fighting things right now. I’m trying to battle through it,” said Hadwin after a third-round 75 left him at 8 over for his first Masters with 18 holes to go.

“This is probably the first time I’ve been in this position for about six months. I’ve been playing such good golf and I’ve known where the ball is going.

“I’ve got a pretty nasty miss right now.”

Given that the 29-year-old from Abbotsford, who won just a few weeks ago at the Valspar Championship in Florida to earn his way into golf’s most exclusive tournament, has been struggling all week to hit the golf ball where he wants it to go, Hadwin said it’s hard to assess whether he’s getting more comfortable at Augusta.

“I’ve been playing such good golf all year that I really felt I could come in here and play well,” he said. “I know I’m a rookie (at Augusta) and I understand that we’re not supposed to play well, but I feel the way that I putt suits these greens.”

Hadwin said he likes to make his putts die at the hole, which is ideal on Augusta National’s slippery greens. “I feel like I can play this golf course well if I’m playing well.

“I’m just disappointed that this is the game that I brought to the Masters,” he said.

Hadwin has one more day to try to find what has been missing.

“We’ll see,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”