Adam Hadwin nearly aces No. 16 at WM Phoenix Open on last swing of day, Jon Rahm provides encore
It took all day — literally — but the 17,000 rowdy fans packed into TPC Scottsdale’s coliseum on Saturday got what they came for.
Well, sort of.
After the penultimate group of Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Jordan Spieth carded two bogeys and a par on golf’s unruliest hole, Round 3’s final pairing of Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Adam Hadwin entered the coliseum as the crowd’s last chance to see a hole-in-one.
After Scheffler and Rahm didn’t capitalize on their opportunities, Hadwin, as the fans booed, took the par-3 16th’s last swing of the day — and he almost had the grandest of finales.
The Canadian’s tee shot kicked left once it hit the green and landed just feet from the hole.
It was close enough for a beer shower to erupt, though many of the beverages thrown by the fans were water bottles (that’s probably what they needed after consuming alcohol in the Arizona sun for 12 hours).
Full-field scores from the WM Phoenix Open
Following the cleanup on aisle 16, which Hadwin assisted with, Rahm provided quite the encore.
The former Arizona State Sun Devil sank the 16th hole’s longest putt of the day (41 feet) for a birdie that brought him within one of Scheffler’s lead (Rahm’s two back of Scheffler’s 13 under lead entering the final round).
“After Adam hits it close, I’m all the way back there,” Rahm said after his round. “I’m hoping to make it, but I’m perfectly happy with an easy stress-free two-putt.
“We felt the chaos going on. I just thought it was best to not give it too much time. I didn’t want to give the crowd too much time to think about throwing anything else. So even though my routine, somebody threw a bottle and I just went up and hit it. The break is not going to change. I had the break pretty clear. Felt like the pace was something I was comfortable on. It was one of those things that luckily it went in and I got to enjoy that moment.”
It may not have been the ace everyone rushed into the coliseum at 7 a.m. to see, but it was an adequate consolation prize — especially after waiting all day.