At least eight players had a chance to win the American Express late Sunday afternoon but it was Hudson Swafford who came up with the clutch shots that carried him to his third career PGA Tour victory.
The leaderboard at the Stadium Course was bunched up heading to the final holes but Swafford broke away from the pack starting at the par five 16th. It was playing downwind and Swafford launched a 338-yard drive. It left him with 198 in and with the wind “it was a perfect seven-iron,” Swafford said afterward. “I told my caddie if I hit it solid, we’d have a good look at eagle.” Swafford did indeed hit it solid and his ball settled just eight feet from the hole. He hit a perfect putt and jumped to 22-under par, two ahead of a half-dozen players.
“I knew 16 was playing easy and the guys behind me would score,” Swafford said. He put them all in a difficult spot with a good tee shot at the par three 17th that left him with 19-feet for birdie. He rolled that one in to get to eight-under for his round and 23-under for the tournament. A routine par at the 18th shut the door on the would-be challengers and Swafford won this event for the second time.
It was a wild, day-long ride for Swafford, who bogeyed the first hole then recovered with four birdies to make the turn three-under for the round. His final nine was crazy — the only par he made was the closing four at 18. On the other eight holes, he had five birdies, the eagle at 16 and two bogeys that added up to 31 and 64 to finish.
Swaffort said later that he was thinking about his late father as he hit the home stretch: “I had a couple moments where I looked up and knew that he was following and knew that he was there,” Swafford said. “I could just hear his voice saying, ‘Just be confident in what you’re doing. You’re playing great.’ And he goes, ‘Just play to win.’”
His father, David Swafford died December 6th at the age of 83. “One of the best people I know and he taught me everything I know,” Swafford said. “How to be a dad, how to be a friend, how to be a champion and how to play golf. He’s the one that got me into golf when I was young. He gave me every opportunity to succeed, but never pushed it on me.”
Tom Hoge was in the thick of it, trying for his first Tour win. He birdied 16 and 17 but couldn’t catch Swafford. His 68 got him to 21-under, good for solo second.
Brian Harman (64), Lanto Griffin (67) and rookie Lee Hodges, the 54-hole leader with Paul Barjon, shot 70 as all three tied for third at 20-under. Will Zalatoris (67), Denny McCarthy (67) and Francesco Molinari (68) all tied at 19-under.
Patrick Cantlay’s closing 68 earned him a solo ninth while world No. 1 Jon Rahm finished tied for 14th at 14-under par.
Miguel Angel Jimenez Wins Playoff At Mitsubishi Electric:
Ferrari-driving, wine-sipping, cigar-smoking, pony-tail-sporting Miguel Angel Jimenez won the Mitsubishi Electric in a playoff two years ago. He repeated that feat on Saturday at Hualalai Resort.
Jimenez came from behind with four birdies on the back nine and one group ahead of him, Steve Alker had just birdied the 18th to post 17-under par after a round of 66.
Knowing what he had to do, Jimenez hit his approach to 10 feet and rolled in the birdie putt for a 66 of his own to tie Alker at 17-under.
On the first playoff hole, Alker had a good look at birdie from seven feet that would have won the title but he missed and the pair went back play 18 for a second time.
Alker’s approach spun off the green, into a bunker and he failed to get up-and-down and Jimenez won with a routine par.
“It’s a nice way to start a season. It’s nice to be here, winning again in Hualalai,” Jimenez said. “The golf course, I like it very much. The golf course is set up in beautiful condition this year. They make it very good here at Hualalai.”
Overall, it was Jimenez’ third win in the event as he also took the title in 2015.
