The last three weeks have been a whirlwind of activity for Canadian golfer Adam Hadwin. O.K. , maybe whirlwind is too slow a pace for the past few weeks for Hadwin. There seems to be a little bit of everything and it’s been quick. Real quick.
It started with the Valspar win in Florida March 12th which he followed up with a top ten finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Just last weekend Hadwin got married to his fiancé Jessica which was likely the front runner when it came to ranking his best moments in March. The newly-weds also managed to sneak in the opportunity to buy a new home during all this time. Time to take a deep breath and relax right? Nope.
“I think I’m still figuring out what’s going on,” he said. “I’m still a little bit lost.”
Well, he won’t have to break out the GPS to find out where he’s going next. It’s a little course down in Georgia called Augusta, courtesy of his win at the Valspar.
He will make the drive down Magnolia Lane for the first time, work on his game on the range and play some practice rounds to prepare for that first tee shot next Thursday. He figures it won’t be a problem getting pumped for this tournament.
“It has been a little more difficult to kind of settle down and get focused and refocus my energy for what I need to do but I think now that sort of everything is settled, not just our wedding and the recent play as of late but this house now as well.Now that everything is sort of laid down I can sort of get to focus my energy on next week and get ready. There’ll be lots of hours next week to focus on the things I’m going to need for Augusta.”
He’s never played Augusta but he pointed out he’s played other courses for the first time in the past and scored well. But this is Augusta and the Masters so any edge you can get would be a good idea no matter how well you might be playing.
Hadwin plans to join fellow Canadian Mackenzie Hughes and that other Canadian golfer who just happens to own a green jacket -Mike Weir.
He does plan to pick the brain of Weir for whatever tidbits of knowledge he can share but he’s also very aware of how the game has changed since Weir won the Masters in 2003.
“Mike and I may play different games so there’s going to be some things that he did in ’03 that will be different from myself or for other players. He found a way to fit his game to Augusta and beat the best players that week,” he said. “A lot of it can be certain shots and certain greens and where to go. He might have input on certain hole locations, you know, where you can’t go and where you can go. Even if you miss the green on this hole as long as you’re over here you’ve actually got a better chance at par than if you hit it over on this side of the hole.”
He’s very proud of being able to tee it up at The Masters and rightfully so. Hadwin says the other majors are special in their own way but it’s how one gets into this tournament which makes it special.
“You have to be either a top 50 player or you have to finish the previous year in the top 30 of the Fed Ex Cup or you have to win and so it has this sort of winners only, great players only type of feel to it.”
He says growing up he has made plenty of putts around sunset to win the Masters but he claims he’s not approaching the real thing any different, working on what he feels he needs to fine tune in order to play his best that week.
He attributes his success this year to staying aggressive or as he put it, conservatively aggressive. He likes how he has handled par fives this year and it’s those holes where a player can really make a mark at Augusta. He’s got full confidence in his wedge play so if he has to lay up on those holes it’s an option in his bag but he says he will start with hitting a good tee shot and take it from there when it comes to going for it in two or playing it safe.
“That course can be scored on by doing both,” he said.
“ I’m going to go in there with confidence.I’m playing really well this year. I’ve had success against great fields and it’s just a matter of preparing the best I can and seeing where my game stacks up that week against the game’s best players.”
The nerves can play a role in this game at any level but Hadwin says he is going to fight hard in order to not allow the aura or prestige of the tournament creep into his thoughts which can make a player think he can’t compete.
The opening tee shot on Thursday morning when it counts will be a good test. He feels there’s two types of nerves. One is just the feeling of excitement, of being ready play some golf and the other is the I’m not-sure-what-I’m-doing type.
“I’m sure I’ll be nervous teeing it up on Sunday when it’s just me playing a practice round. I think a lot of that is that nervous excitement energy just to be there and to get going. My goal is to prepare well enough Sunday through Wednesday that when I stand on the tee on Thursday I’m standing there going O.K. let’s win this golf tournament. I’m ready to go.”
Then maybe time for a honeymoon and possibly packing a certain coloured jacket for dinner.
