In the final round of the 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge, Hudson Swafford holds off a handful of players and shoots a final-round 67 to claim his first win on the PGA TOUR.
LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Hudson Swafford overcame the newest Mr. 59 and rain in the desert to claim his first PGA TOUR victory.
Here’s five observations from the CareerBuilder Challenge where Swafford got through the three-course rotation in style.
1. Hudson Swafford resides in Sea Island, Georgia, but his win in the Coachella Valley was born in the Coachella Valley. Swafford spends the early part of his new year in the California desert, getting his game geared up for the season ahead. This time around his time spent at the Hideaway Golf Club has paid off big time. He spoke of finding his game at the Hideaway during the Sony Open in Hawaii and proved it was more than rhetoric with his breakthrough display once he returned to the mainland. Another player who has a similar early year set-up in Jason Day… who coincidently returns to action at this week’s Farmers Insurance Open.
2. Swafford showed some serious guts coming down the stretch Sunday. With multiple challengers surging towards and into the lead with hole outs and long putts raining down around him Swafford produced quality shots when they mattered. His run of birdies from 7-9 assured he would be amongst the cracking whips but it was his three in a row from 15-17 that sealed the deal in style. The finish to PGA WEST’s Stadium Course in far from a picnic but the 29-year-old never looked flustered. He deserved his birdie putt on 18 to drop for a big celebration moment but his tap in par was enough.
3. These Guys Are Good is an understatement these days. Adam Hadwin found his place in history as he became just the eighth player to shoot 59 or better on the PGA TOUR with the Canadian doing so in Round 3 at La Quinta Country Club. His 13-under effort was just further proof we are likely to see more and more assaults on sub-60 rounds as technology and skill marry up. 57 could well be on the horizon.
4. Hadwin stormed into the lead with his 59 but ultimately fell short of a maiden victory on TOUR, settling for second place, leaving him a tad deflated. But there was obviously a lot to like from his performance. The “ease” in which he shot 59 on Saturday, needing only par on the last, showed he can handle the big occasions. With a run of six straight birdies early in his round and five in a row later on he also showed an affinity for holding some serious momentum. And impressively, on 17 on Sunday, when Swafford stiffed his approach to tap in range, Hadwin stepped up and buried a 25-foot birdie to stay on his tail. Missing the green on 18 hurt but the Canadian certainly showed he could soon well be the 14th Canadian to win on the PGA TOUR behind George Knudson, Mike Weir, Ian Leggatt, Stan Leonard, Richard Zokol, Dan Halldorson, Dave Barr, Al Balding, Jules Huot, Al Johnston, Stephen Ames, Nick Taylor and Mackenzie Hughes.
5. Considering he was an unlikely starter until early in the week Phil Mickelson’s return from two sports hernia surgeries was a success. The Hall-Of-Famer finished 22nd in the field as he served as an ambassador for the event. There was some obvious rust but there is also still enough magic in his game to believe his win drought since his 2013 Open Championship triumph could end on the west coast this year. He is scheduled to play the next four events: the Farmers Insurance Open, Waste Management Phoenix Open, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Open where he is a past champion in each.
1. With the win, Hudson Swafford moved up from 69th to 6th in the FedExCup standings with 569 points and effectively booked his spot in the Playoffs. It took 454 points to qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup in 2015-16. Swafford missed the post-season in his first year on TOUR in 2013-14 but was 81st and 64th the last two seasons.
2. Swafford becomes the eighth player in the 58-year history of the CareerBuilder Challenge to make the tournament his first PGA TOUR victory: Bill Rogers (1978), Craig Stadler (1980), Donnie Hammond (1986), Charley Hoffman (2007), Pat Perez (2009), Bill Haas (2010) and Jhonattan Vegas (2011) came before him.
3. Swafford’s made cut this week was his 19th straight. It has him sitting equal third on TOUR with world No.1 Jason Day. Adam Scott leads the list with 22 straight made cuts with Daniel Berger next on 21. Swafford’s last missed cut was the 2016 Zurich Classic of New Orleans - which was his 4th missed cut in a row at that point.
4. Swafford led the field in total birdies with 26, a new career record for the 29-year-old, taking over from his 25 birdie effort in the 2014 CareerBuilder Challenge. In his 2 rounds on the PGA WEST Stadium Course Swafford ranked 1st for Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and 6th for Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green. His 306.6yards had him 5th in driving distance.
5. There have now been nine sub-60 rounds in PGA TOUR history after Adam Hadwin joined the party. Hadwin’s 13 birdies on Saturday tied Chip Beck’s record for most birdies in a round. Beck set the record when he shot the second 59 in TOUR history, at the 1991 Las Vegas Classic. Hadwin shot just the third sub-60 round without an eagle. The 59s shot by Beck and Paul Goydos (2010) are the others. The CareerBuilder Challenge is also the first PGA TOUR event to see multiple 59s. David Duval shot a final-round 59 at PGA WEST’s Palmer Private Course to win in 1999.
1. Check out some history as Adam Hadwin becomes the latest member of the 59 Club.
2. Imagine getting to play in the Pro-Am portion of the CareerBuilder Challenge. Then imagine making an ace on the iconic 17th, while not even watching, to win a car.
3. New Zealand’s Danny Lee is a known jokester and his attempt at Phil Mickelson’s famous Masters jump, while playing with Phil, is certainly worth a chuckle.