SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Adam Hadwin held on to the lead on Friday at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship despite strong winds in the closing stages as he looked to retain his full PGA Tour spot, shooting a 5-under 66 at Port Royal and heading into the weekend with a one-shot advantage.
Hadwin is No. 147 in the FedEx Cup standings, and the top 100 will hold next year’s tour cards next week after the RSM Classic. The 38-year-old Canadian, a PGA Tour winner and two-time Presidents Cup player, missed the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in his tour career.
Hadwin finished with a total of 11-under 131 after opening with a 65 on Thursday.
“It was a little bit more of a scramble than yesterday, but we didn’t hit as much,” Hadwin said. “I came off a little early. … I just missed a little bit. I didn’t have the same feel as yesterday, but I scrambled really well. Short game, putts, I made a lot of putts today.”
Chandler Phillips (64) and Braden Thornberry (65) tied for second place. Max McGreevy (64) and Noah Goodwin (67) finished at 9 under. Six players failed to finish before dark.
McGreevy played late Thursday and early Friday and faced some of the toughest wind conditions.
“Being from Oklahoma, I’ve had a lot of wind in my life, so I’ve seen my fair share of good and bad vacations,” McGreevy said. “I just have to get used to it.”
With winds reaching 26 mph, Hadwin suffered a double bogey on the par-3 13th, his fourth hole of the day, but recovered with an eagle from the rough on the short par-4 6th.
“I thought I’d push it that far and get within 50, 60 yards of the green and then pitch it back to the pin,” Hadwin said. “I thought I could go another 50-60 yards if I just put the ball to the right of the bushes.The pitch shot was perfect.It’s a bit of luck to make it, but I did exactly what I wanted to do:
He will be making his 299th start on the PGA Tour. He won his only PGA Tour title at the 2017 Valspar Championship.
Tyler Watts, a high school senior from Huntsville, Alabama, shot a 69 to finish tied for 35th at 2 under. The Tennessee-based player tied for 53rd at the Pro Core Championship in his only tour start. He qualified this week on a sponsor exemption as the top performer in the Men’s Elite Amateur Cup.
