Taylor, Hadwin ringing in the new year at the Sony Open
During a trip home over the holidays, Adam Hadwin managed to squeeze in a couple of rounds of golf.
“I played nine holes at Ledgeview with my brother one day and I played nine holes at Morgan Creek,” Hadwin said. “It was awesome, carrying the bag and walking around by myself. It was nice.”
Now it’s back to work for Hadwin and his Abbotsford neighbour Nick Taylor, as they resume their 2015-16 sophomore seasons on the PGA Tour at this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii.
It should be a lot warmer there, and there’ll definitely be a lot more roll in the fairways.
The 2015-16 PGA Tour season officially started last fall, but after a two-month break this feels like the start of a new season for both Hadwin and Taylor.
“When you have that much time off, it definitely feels like a new start,” Taylor said. “I know the season officially got going in the fall, but I have never had that much time off and I probably feel more refreshed than I ever have. I am chomping at the bit to get going. It’s nice having that feeling.”
“I am kind of treating it like a new year as well,” Hadwin added. “I ended the fall on a bit of a sour note … This certainly feels like a fresh start for me, like a brand new year.”
The fall was a mixed bag for Hadwin and Taylor. Hadwin made two of four cuts, but felt out of sorts. He begins 2016 136th on the FedEx Cup points list and must finish in the top 125 to remain exempt next year.
Taylor has no such problems. He is beginning the first year of a two-year exemption he earned by winning the Sanderson Farms Championship in the fall of 2014.
This past fall, Taylor had a decent start to his season. He made three of four cuts and had two top-25 finishes. He starts 2016 tied for 90th on the FedEx Cup points list and has already earned more than $104,000 US.
Taylor hopes to be more consistent this year. In his rookie season last year, Taylor made 17 of 28 cuts but had only one other top 25 beside his win at the Sanderson Farms event.
“I just want to try and put four good rounds together more often,” he said. “Last year, a lot of times I’d have three pretty decent rounds and one bad round. If I have a bad tournament, I want to be in the top 40 and not in the 50s or 60s. I did that a lot last year and it doesn’t get you anywhere.”
Hadwin is also seeking more consistency this year. He made 18 of 30 cuts in 2014-15 and had three top 10s.
“For this entire year,” he said, “I just want to be consistent. I just want to make cuts, I want to play the weekends, get into a rhythm each week, playing through Sunday, taking Monday off and getting ready for the next week.
“When you miss as many cuts as I did last year, it kind of throws your rhythm off a little bit … So that is probably the biggest thing: get the ball in play, get myself opportunities, take advantage of them when I get them and hopefully put myself in contention a few times early this year to get those feelings back, get those nervous jitters back a little bit and go from there.”
CHIP SHOTS: Taylor will play all six West Coast events, while Hadwin will play at least five. He’s not sure if he will tee it up at the Pebble Beach tourney … Fellow Canadians Graham DeLaet and David Hearn are also in the field this week.