Pigskin pain follows golf glee

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This article was published 24/07/2010 (5875 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — It is an only-in-Canada moment — a golfer making the cut in his first PGA Tour event and declaring he is off to a CFL game to celebrate.

But that was Adam Hadwin’s day on Friday.

The Canadian Tour player from Abbotsford, B.C., fired a 4-under 66 in the second round of the Canadian Open, getting to 6-under overall and becoming the low homegrown product at the rain-softened St. George’s Golf and Country Club.

After a weather delay postponed Friday’s play by nearly two hours, Day 2 of the 101st Open — which featured another course-record 62, this time by Kevin Sutherland of the U.S. — ended with Players Championship winner Tim Clark of South Africa and Dean Wilson tied for the lead at 10-under par.

"I certainly didn’t expect to be scoring like this around this course when I saw it in the pro-am," Clark said after a 6-under 64. "I felt like it was pretty tough."

Clark said he did not know if his first PGA Tour win earlier this year would change how he feels going into the weekend with a share of the lead.

"I may go out there with a little more confidence than I had before, but I certainly don’t feel different," he said. "Maybe when I get out there under pressure, I will start to feel different."

Wilson, who shot matching rounds of 65, said staying on top on the PGA Tour is simply difficult.

"(Getting to) the top of the leaderboard is one step," he said. "Then it’s being able to handle the pressure or sleep with the lead or just feel comfortable doing it."

Wilson said he had no doubt he would be able to sleep on his lead after the hot muggy day surprised many by not bringing more rain.

"I’ll sleep like a baby, I’m pretty tired," he said. "I was able to win when I played in Japan and when I got myself in contention on Tour, I’ve been able to get one win. So I’m comfortable with it. I’m excited. I want to be in contention, I want to be up there."

So did Hadwin, though he provided longer odds of doing so.

The 22-year-old is playing with St. George’s former club champion Craig Sinclair as his caddie, funded in part by $60,000 put up by six members at Morgan Creek, the B.C. club where his father Gerry is an instructor. Hadwin is bunking at a nearby home, thanks to another connection, and taking full advantage of being in golf’s big leagues this week.

"(The B.C.) Lions are in town," he said. "I gotta go cheer for my Lions. I talked to player services. I got tickets, and I’m going to the game." (The Lions lost 24-20 to the Toronto Argonauts)

That was after he spent a day looking unusually calm for a player in his first PGA Tour event. He got as low as 7-under before a bogey on the 17th hole.

"That putt on 17 I missed for par, I was shaking," he said. "For some reason, I get nervous over par putts, but that putt on 18 I was real nervous in front of the crowd. But I was able to put together a good aggressive stroke for it."

It is not like Hadwin was not paying attention to his surroundings. He knew he needed to make his final putt to keep him ahead of Calgary’s Stephen Ames as the low Canadian.

"I looked at the scoreboard and I saw Ames at (5-under), and I knew I was at (6-under), so I wanted to make that putt," he said. "That was a huge momentum boost for me for the weekend."

Hadwin had a direct message for his benefactors back in B.C. "I’m hoping they’re watching this and I can only give them the (money) back and they’ll be happy with that. So I hope you’re watching."

He also hoped his busy father — the one he had to ditch as a coach when they butted heads in his younger days — might be able to see him in person this weekend.

"I mean now that we’ve gotten past my younger years, I’ve kind of matured a little bit, so I see where he’s coming from a little bit more," he said.

 

— Postmedia News