James Hahn would have been a long-shot pick at best this week in Charlotte.
The player who won at Riviera last year in a playoff, had missed eight straight cuts and was chasing Rickie Fowler on Sunday at the Wells Fargo.
When it was all over at Quail Hollow, Hahn emerged from the depths of golf despair to claim his second PGA Tour victory.
It didn’t come easy. A three-putt bogey at the 72nd hole left him at nine-under par then he watched the final group and saw Roberto Castro dropped a seven-foot par putt to tie him and force a playoff.
While the two went back to the 18th tee, a lot of other players were kicking themselves.
Phil Mickelson put up a 66 on Sunday and had it not been for the quadruple-bogey eight he suffered at 18 on Saturday, it might have been a three-man playoff.
Fowler, the overnight leader and favorite to get his second win at Quail Hollow, imploded with a 39 on the front side and eventually finished at seven-under with Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Andrew Loupe. McIlroy tied Mickelson for the day’s best effort with his own 66.
Justin Rose’s putter betrayed him over the last five holes and kept him from the winner’s circle. He finished by himself at eight-under.
Things ended quickly in the playoff when Castro hit a quick hook off the tee that found the left water hazard. His third ended up right of the green and he nearly holed his fourth for par. He ended up making a seven-footer for bogey that forced Hahn to make four. Hahn hit a perfect 300-yard drive then a stock seven-iron from 188 yards, 30 feet from the hole. He left himself a nervous four-footer for victory but dropped it center-cut.
Then Hahn’s emotion’s came out.
“You just keep believing. My wife, I owe it all to her, not a lot of people can understand that. Honestly, it is the toughest part of what we do. You question yourself. Will it ever happen again (a win)? Sell shoes again for a living?” he said, recalling his days as a shoe salesman at Nordstrom’s.
“I like this,” he went on. “It’s crazy. I didn’t think I could do it on one playoff hole.”
The Castro mistake made it a reality.
Afterward, Castro was optimistic and looking ahead
“I’m really excited. This is my fifth year on tour. I’m really encouraged by what I saw in my game this week. This was a big golf course.”
