LATE BURST OF BIRDIES DECIDES WEB.COM TOUR EVENT AT SANTIAGO

     Adam Hadwin with the Chile Classic Trophy

CANADIAN HADWIN WINS CHILE Classic

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
SANTIAGO, Chile – Canada’s Adam Hadwin birdied four of his final six holes, including the last two, to overtake Australian Alistair Presnell and win the Chile Classic, his first career title.
Hadwin, the 54-hole leader, polished off a 3-under 69 to finish at 16-under 272 at the Prince of Wales Country Club course, one better than Presnell, who chalked up three eagles on the day, including a dramatic 18-footer on the 18th to take the clubhouse lead at 15-under.
“I heard roars but I didn’t know what happened,” said Hadwin. “I knew it was going to be close. I said to my caddie on 17 tee that if I make two birdies they can’t catch us.”
The British Columbia resident got up-and-down from a greenside bunker on the reachable par-4, 17th – tees were moved up and it played only 308 yards – for birdie to tie Presnell as he approached the 529-yard, 18th.
A perfect drive put him down the right-center of the fairway, 230 yards from the pin on the par-5.
“It was an awkward number. I wanted to hit 5-iron and didn’t think I could clear the water if I missed it a little, so I went with 4,” said Hadwin, a graduate of the University of Louisville. “I guess I gave up on it a little and luckily it cleared the water. It was a fairly easy chip across the green and was able to get up and down for the victory.”
Hadwin stepped up and pitched to within four feet and holed the putt for the win.
“I don’t know what to say. I really don’t know to feel, what to think,” he said. “It’s amazing. I battled all day and to finish birdie-birdie and make the putts I did on the last two holes gives me so much confidence. I couldn’t be happier right now.”
The victory was in doubt during a perfect afternoon when the sun-baked, rock-hard greens kept the field from making a big chare.
“I kept an eye on the board,” said the 26-year old winner. “Nobody was taking off. Everyone was just holding around 13, 12-under and I was playing steady. I wasn’t in control like I was yesterday but I wasn’t worried about it.”
Hadwin’s one-stroke lead to start the day evaporated early on the back nine when several challengers joined the fray at 13-under and forced a five-way tie, however temporary.
Presnell snuck up on the board each time he rolled in an eagle putt. The 34-year-old Aussie didn’t make a birdie all day but took big jumps with big putts and finished with a 68. He made a 55-footer on No. 3 and then a 3-footer at No. 14 to get close to Hadwin. When he rolled in the final one, he forced Hadwin to step up, which he did with authority.
“We’re all in this battle, a year-long race to get onto the PGA TOUR and this just puts me one step closer to my goal,” said Hadwin, who picked up a check for $117,000 and moved to No. 1 on the money list, ahead of Germany’s Alex Cejka, winner of the Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship two weeks ago.

• Sunday weather: Mostly sunny. Winds were calm in the morning and then S 5-10 through 4pm and then SW 8-15 mph. High of 83.

• Adam Hadwin earned his first Web.com Tour win in his 49th career start. His previous best finishes were a pair of T3 efforts at the 2012 Cox Classic and the 2012 Tour Championship.
• Collected a cheque for $117,000.
• Wins at the age of 26 years, 4 months and 7 days.
• Becomes the 13th Canadian-born player to win on the Web.com Tour and the first since Chris Baryla won the 2009 Chattanooga Classic, a span of 111 tournaments.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
 Par 288 (4x72)
272 Adam Hadwin (Canada) 67 69 67 69
273 Alistair Presnell (Australia) 70 70 65 68
275 Sung-Joon Park (S Korea) 67 72 70 66, Henrik Norlander (Sweden) 64 72 70 69, Kyle Reifers (USA) 68 68 68 71.

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