For British Columbia’s Adam Hadwin, 2017 has been a breakout year. He fired a 59 in January, followed it up with his first PGA Tour win, made the Tour Championship and now will represent Canada on the International Team at the Presidents Cup.
To say Hadwin is looking forward to teeing it up at the Presidents Cup is an understatement.
“I’m sure every Presidents Cup is exciting, but to play in New York, taking a ferry to the course, is truly amazing,” Hadwin said of the tournament, which is being held at Liberty National. “The location is unique, and there’s something about New York that makes the diamond shine a little brighter.”
Hadwin comes into the tournament ranked in the Top 50 in the world, and having played the Tour Championship, with its exclusive Top 30 players. It means a great deal for the Canadian moving forward.
“I’ve had a good year—a great run early, and then it cooled off and I was a bit spotty,” Hadwin says. “But to be part of the Tour Championship, and recognize all that it brings—majors and World Golf Championships—and to truly plan my schedule for the first time in professional golf, is a great feeling. The last few years I haven’t always been in the tournaments I wanted to play in heading into the season. Now I can plan around the majors and build a schedule that is beneficial for my golf game on the course and my body off the course.”
Hadwin will also turn to another Canadian—Mike Weir—for advice heading into the Presidents Cup. Weir is an assistant captain, and played in five Presidents Cup events.
“Mike Weir is a key for me,” says Hadwin. “He’ll provide insights that few can because he’s played in it so often. The players that haven’t been there before will lean on guys like Mike who have been there.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Hadwin hasn’t tinked with his gear during his breakout year. A Callaway staff player, the only club Hadwin has altered is his 3-wood, which is now a 13.5-degree Epic Sub Zero. Hadwin feels he’s found the right mix heading into the Presidents Cup.
“It is the one club that I’ve struggled with—the ball has flown the way I wanted it too, but the club didn’t look right to my eye,” Hadwin says. “I think I’ve found a club that works now.
“The head says 13.5 degrees, but I don’t think it is actually that low,” Hadwin continues. “At this point in the game, it is about finding a club that does everything you want it to do—flight, look—and carries the distance you want it to. On a good day I’m 260 with a 3-wood, maybe 265 if I tag it and it could run out to 280. The one I have doesn’t spin as much to the driver and kind of hunts a bit more.”