Hadwin posts tournament’s top final round
Adam Hadwin didn’t win the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open on Sunday, but it wasn’t from a lack of trying.
The 26-year-old Canadian owned TPC Summerlin, finishing with a flourish after an 8-under-par 63 and a four-day total of 13-under 271 to finish tied for 10th place.
“It was one of those days where everything went right,” said Hadwin, who earned $137,433 after posting Sunday’s best individual round. “I didn’t have a bad hole to kill my momentum.”
Hadwin, who was the leading money winner on the Web.com Tour last year with $529,792 to earn his spot in this week’s field, came into his final round at 5-under. But he made four consecutive birdies from Nos. 4 through 7, and he added a fifth birdie at No. 9 to make the turn at 5-under for the round, 10-under overall. He added three more birdies on his back nine to complete his excellent round.
“I basically striped it all day,” he said. “I had good looks at birdie just about every hole. I didn’t really start feeling comfortable over the ball until the last two days.”
Hadwin said his week in Las Vegas will give him plenty of confidence going forward.
“Definitely,” he said. “I know I can compete out here. It’s just a matter of making good swings and good decisions.”
■ PIERCY’S RUN — Scott Piercy didn’t win either, but he still had a pretty good day. The Las Vegas resident and Bonanza High School alumnus finished tied for seventh place at 14-under 270 and took a big step toward satisfying his criteria for the one-time medical extension granted by the PGA Tour after he had surgery on his right arm in February.
Piercy needs to earn $300,710 or collect 200 FedEx Cup points in 14 events to re-establish his place on tour. He picked up $193,233 and 85 points.
“My goal was to sew up my major medical in the fall,” said Piercy, who has 12 events left to meet the standard. “I need to make another $100,000 just to not even worry about it. But the ultimate goal is to win and keep getting better.”
He was in good shape for the first 11 holes, but he had trouble at the 12th when his second shot trickled into the water. He wound up taking bogey, then bogeyed the par-5 13th. Piercy appeared to forget about the mistakes and proceeded to card consecutive birdies to get back to 14-under with three holes to play.
“The rough was up and the greens were really inconsistent in terms of landing it (Sunday),” he said. “I think that’s what translated to the higher scores.”
■ LOCALS ROUNDUP — Of the six locals playing Sunday, Piercy had the best showing with his tie for seventh place. Henderson’s Nick Watney finished in a tie for 16th with a 12-under 272 and earned $102,300.
UNLV alumnus Bill Lunde struggled in his final round with a 2-over 73 and tied for 33rd with a 9-under 275. Lunde made $30,724, which likely will go to the baby fund as he and his wife Dana are expecting their first child in early December.
Former Rebel Andres Gonzales finished with a 2-under 69 for a four-day total of 7-under 277, as did Las Vegas’ Alex Prugh. Another former Rebel, Derek Ernst, finished his final round at even par and a four-day total of 4-under 280.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.
