Canuck just 2 shots back at Open
Hadwin hot on heels of leaders after firing 66 at Shaughnessy
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/07/2011 (5415 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
VANCOUVER — Adam Hadwin has already proven he likes a big stage and the 23-year-old rising star from Abbotsford, B.C., will have a huge one to play on this weekend at the RBC Canadian Open.
A brilliant 4-under 66 in Friday’s second round has Hadwin just two shots out of the lead at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club with a chance to chase a little history.
Stage fright should not be a problem. This is just his third PGA Tour event but Hadwin, a two-time winner on the Canadian Tour who is playing on a sponsor’s exemption, has handled the pressure of golf’s big leagues extraordinarily well when he’s had his opportunity.
Exactly one year ago at St. George’s in Toronto, he was low Canadian at the Open, where he finished tied for 37th. And then last month, Hadwin fired a final-round 68 to finish tied for 39th at the U.S. Open.
He hopes those experiences will help him this weekend, when big crowds figure to line both sides of the fairway to cheer him on.
“Any time you can compete at a U.S. Open and actually play well and play like I did the final day, that’s a confidence-builder,” Hadwin said.
“Every event kind of like that is a building block.”
Hadwin is one of seven players tied for fifth at 2-under par on a crowded leaderboard, two shots behind co-leaders Chad Campbell and Michael Thompson. Fellow Canadian David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., is among that group at 2-under after a fine 2-under 68 on Friday.
No Canadian has won his national Open since Pat Fletcher did it way back in 1954 just down the street at Point Grey.
Hadwin arrived at the 18th tee just one shot out of the lead, but his drive found the right-hand rough and he had to sink an 11-foot putt to save his bogey.
“I salvaged something,” Hadwin said. “Not the way I wanted to end my round, obviously. I played some unbelievable golf today. I kept the ball in play all day, hit a lot of good shots into greens and made a lot of good putts. I just hit a couple of bad shots coming in and that was it.
“I said coming into the event this course suits my game and I kind of proved it today. I felt really good out there; I felt calm, especially with the putter and the short game. Those two things held me in there a little bit.”
Campbell, a Texan whose four PGA Tour wins include the 2003 Tour Championship, shot a 3-under 67 in the morning half of the draw to grab the lead.
“I played well, kept the ball in the fairway,” Campbell said. “That’s pretty important around here, obviously, with the rough and I was able to make a few putts.”
Campbell, who tied for fifth at last week’s British Open, missed only two fairways is his round.
“Nothing is quite like an (British) Open course, but this is a fantastic golf course,” Campbell said. “My caddy was here in ’05 with another guy and told me how good it is and he was right.”
Thompson is a PGA Tour rookie who was a U.S. Amateur finalist in 2007.
He has played his best golf of the year the last month. A final-round 62 moved him into solo fourth at the Travellers Championship in late June and three weeks ago he tied for 12th at the John Deere Classic.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to be in one of the last groups (Saturday),” said Thompson, who shot his 66 late in the day Friday. “I’m just going to have fun.”
So is two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, who is tied for third with fellow American Paul Goydos.
Janzen hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since capturing his second U.S. Open in 1998. It almost feels like he is chasing his third this week at Shaughnessy.
Janzen doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that he finds himself contending on a tough course that is set up much like the ones he mastered back in the 1990s.
“The good news is I know I have hit good shots on tough courses before when they mattered,” said Janzen. “That is what I have to remember.”
It’s an impressive leaderboard heading into the weekend. Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, youngster Rickie Fowler and former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy are among those tied with Hadwin and Hearn at 2-under.
Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, world No. 1 Luke Donald, Hunter Mahan and even problem-child John Daly survived the cut. Mike Weir was forced to withdraw.
— Postmedia News
