Cal alum Hahn works on fixing his Phoenix flaw
PEBBLE BEACH — James Hahn found himself in an unusual, exhilarating spot midway through last week’s Phoenix Open — atop the leaderboard, one stroke ahead of Rickie Fowler and Danny Lee.
Hahn, who grew up in Alameda and attended Cal, shot 67- 65 to seize the lead. But he stumbled on the weekend, posting 74- 72 to fall into a tie for 17th.
As Hahn prepared for this week’s AT& T Pebble Beach Pro- Am, he mostly worked on slowing down his swing.
“Everything went according to plan the first two days,” he said of the event in Scottsdale, Ariz. “I didn’t really anticipate my swing changing over the weekend. It felt great, but everything was a little quicker.
“In the heat of the moment, you don’t really realize what you’re doing until after it’s all done. Then it’s a simple fix.”
Hahn is coming up on the first anniversary ( Feb. 22) of his inaugural PGA Tour victory. He has collected only two top- 10 finishes in 23 starts since he outlasted Dustin
Johnson and Paul Casey to win in a playoff at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.
One factor: Hahn is adjusting to life as a father, including sleep- deprived nights with his wife, Stephanie, and their daughter, Kailee, who was born shortly after his win.
“It’s been a great learning experience, how to juggle my life on and off the course,” Hahn said. Snedeker in his element: Brandt Snedeker counts as an obvious choice to contend this week. Snedeker has won two of the past three AT& Ts, in 2013 and again last year, and he also won the PGA Tour event at San Diego’s Torrey Pines two weeks ago.
Snedeker brings the kind of amiable personality well suited to the pro- am format.
“Attitude on a week like this is huge,” he said. “You’ve got to have the right attitude. You’ve got to embrace the pro- am format, which I love doing.”
Snedeker already has earned nearly $ 2.3 million in this wraparound 201516 season, second on tour behind Kevin Kisner. As usual, Snedeker is doing his best work on the greens: He ranks ninth on tour in strokes gained/ putting. Lineup changes: Ryo Ishikawa and Matt Every withdrew from the tournament Wednesday. They were replaced by Greg Chalmers and Ted Purdy.
“Everything went according to plan the first two days. I didn’t really anticipate my swing changing over the weekend ... everything was a little quicker.”
James Hahn, on Phoenix Open