NAPA, Calif. – A late rally came up just short for Adam Hadwin at the Safeway Open.
While Hadwin started the final round in a tie for second, three shots behind leader Cameron Champ, he dropped well off the pace with a pair of front-nine bogeys at Silverado Resort & Spa. But the Canadian closed with a flourish, birdieing each of his final three holes including a 4-foot make on the final green.
That gave him a closing 67 and, combined with Champ’s bogey on No. 17, a brief share of the lead at 16 under par. But he could only watch as Champ followed suit with a birdie of his own on the par-5 closing hole to avoid a playoff and end Hadwin’s chances of a second PGA Tour title.
“At least I made him think about it a little bit, didn’t I?” Hadwin said. “I saw his name at 17 there, 17 under when I walked off the 15th green. A couple par-5s, short par-4, I knew I had to do something special. Put a little pressure on him and made him make birdie for it.”
Safeway Open: Full-field tee times | Full coverage
Hadwin finished alone in second place behind Champ, his second runner-up finish of the calendar year (T-2, Desert Classic). It’s also his third top-6 finish in his last eight starts and is projected to move him back inside the top 50 in the world rankings for the first time in more than a year.
“I feel like I’m continuing some of the momentum coming from last year,” Hadwin said. “Results didn’t show it, but I was playing some pretty good golf at the end of the year, I just couldn’t put weekends together. To go out, make eight birdies today on what can be a difficult golf course depending on where you put your golf ball, I’m proud of the way I played and proud of the way I fought.”