Monday 13 March 2017 00:28, UK
Adam Hadwin breathed "a huge sigh of relief" after coming out on top of a tense battle with Patrick Cantlay to clinch a one-shot victory at the Valspar Championship.
Hadwin had begun the final round four shots clear of the young American, but Cantlay's superb run of five birdies in six holes from the ninth heaped huge pressure on the Canadian.
He maintained a two-stroke advantage until making a huge mistake at the 16th, where he blocked his tee shot into the water and ran up a double-bogeyed six which gifted Cantlay a share of the lead.
But Cantlay then hit a poor approach into a greenside bunker at the last and, after a nervy splash-out to 15 feet, his par putt ran past on the high side of the hole.
Hadwin faced a tricky lie in the rear fringe, but he stroked a classy "belly wedge" to virtual tap-in range, and his cast-iron par secured his maiden PGA Tour title and a trip to the Masters next month.
"I fully expected Patrick to make that putt," said Hadwin, who will marry his fiancee on March 24 and is now expected to put his honeymoon on hold to play at Augusta National for the first time. "I just wanted a chance to win on 18 and that's what I had, but I thought it would take a birdie to win it. I'm just lucky that one-footer wasn't one and a half feet!
"I'm proud of myself the way I hung in there, and this course was always going to be a grind the whole way through. I certainly didn't knock myself out of the tournament at 16, but I made it a lot closer than I wanted it to be. I was never out of it. I was kept my focus, kept my head into it and made a couple of putts when I needed to.
"I just went out there and stuck to what I do best, I hit some quality golf shots and really made the game super easy outside of hole No 16. I feel a little fortunate after that hole to be sitting here as champion, but I'll certainly take it and I can't wait for everything that comes with this win."
Cantlay, meanwhile, had the consolation of guaranteeing his PGA Tour card for the remainder of the season in only his second start since November 2014.
The 24-year-old was playing on a medical exemption having endured a long and arduous rehabilitation from a serious back injury, and he is now looking forward to building on his remarkable performance at Innisbrook.
"I played well, I did a lot of good things," he said. "I didn't finish it off very strong, but overall, I played well and my game is good. I just didn't hit the greatest bunker shots at 15 and 18. They were both kind of skinny lies and there wasn't a lot of sand in there. They were a little tough, but I shouldn't hit it in the bunkers to begin with.
"But I'm playing really well, my health is good, and I feel good. I didn't feel like there was much rust, it's funny how fast it comes back actually. It doesn't feel like I've taken as much time off as I have."
