ERIN, Wis. – Through eight holes of the U.S. Open, Adam Hadwin was struggling to get his tournament on track, 2 over for his round and staring up at dozens of names ahead of him in the standings.
Then he made one birdie, then another and another. Once Hadwin’s record-tying run was over, he had birdied six consecutive holes, shot a 4-under 68 and vaulted into contention in just his fourth major championship appearance.
“The game’s funny. It can turn like that,” Hadwin said. “Thankfully it turned for the good today.”
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Hadwin is no stranger to low numbers, having shot a 59 earlier this year at the CareerBuilder Challenge. Starting on the back nine, his run of circles began on No. 18, followed by five more birdies on Nos. 1-5 – a stretch that included only one make longer than 10 feet.
Hadwin became just the third player in U.S. Open history to record six straight birdies, matching a feat first achieved by George Burns in 1982 and matched by Andy Dillard in 1992, both times at Pebble Beach.
“I was thinking about that coming down the last few holes, wondering if I was close (to the record),” Hadwin said. “I knew I had to be close given how difficult this championship is. So that’s kind of cool.”
Hadwin didn’t win in Palm Springs in January despite his sub-60 effort, but he did notch his maiden PGA Tour win two months later at the Valspar Championship. He currently trails Rickie Fowler by three shots, and the Canadian has his eye on knocking off a few more ambitious goals this season.
“I think the next thing is contend at big events with the best players in the world,” he said. “That would be majors, WGCs, and thankfully I’m off to a good start this week.”
Source: Internet
