The Monday morning weather at Sea Island was perfect for a Thanksgiving gathering.
It was a cool 42 degrees, perhaps cold if you poll folks in the south. There was wind that made for very crisp conditions at 8 a.m,
Perfect to staying inside to watch football or contemplate turkey — you know, all the things you might do on a Thanksgiving morning.
What PGA Tour rookie Mackenzie Hughes didn’t know is that he was about to set the perfect Thanksgiving table.
He faced a four-man playoff after leading the RSM Classic from the very start, opening with that dazzling 61 yet there he was in overtime facing Camilo Villegas, Henrik Norlander and Blayne Barber. There would have been a fifth had not Billy Horschel missed a kick-in two footer Sunday evening with night setting in. Made you wonder how that guy ever won the FedEx Cup.
The 17th hole wasn’t the easiest, for sure. Try 189 yards that plays more like 200 when the air dips around 40 degrees.
Maybe it wasn’t that surprising when all four missed the green. Hughes had the toughest shot, he pulled his tee ball leaving him with an awkward chip up the tight slope then down to the hole, probably 40 feet in all. Hit it too hard and you’ve got a 15-20 footer for par, hit it too weak and you’re still on the fringe, probably 15 feet short.
Hughes didn’t hit it hard enough and left himself still on that fringe looking at a 14-footer to simply stay alive.
Everyone else showed some nerves as well, no one got it within gimme range.
Barber was eight feet out, Norland seven and Villegas closest at five.
Things weren’t looking good for Hughes but the gritty Canadian stayed positive.
“If I didn’t make it, I thought I was probably out but I told myself ‘just make them think about it.”
What transpired next was a Mackenzie Miracle of sorts. He put a good stroke on it, through the fringe, down the slope and dead center cut into the hole.
“I made the putt of my life right there,” he would say afterward.
And what transpired after that was even more shocking.
First, Barber missed his eight-footer.
Then Norlander saw his seven-footer slide by.
Villegas was up last and you’d figure a guy who has four PGA Tour wins would make a five-footer for the win to set himself back into the the wonderful world of the fully-exempt. Surely Camilo would send it over to the 18th hole.
“Just make them think about it.”
What Hughes told himself played out. The last thing you want when you have a meaningful short putt is to wait then watch two guys miss in front of you.
Then Villegas missed.
Say hello to Mackenzie Hughes, PGA Tour winner, first rookie to go wire-to-wire since 1996 when Tim “Lumpy” Herron did it at the Honda Classic. Newly-wed Mackenzie changed his life and wife Jenna’s in a big way. Say hello to the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii in two months. Say hello to the 2017 Masters and the PGA Championship. Say hello to your two-year exempt status.
Most of all, say hello to this winner’s check for $1,080,000. Welcome to the upper one percent.
Yes, Hughes made the putt of his life then watched three guys give him the boost of a lifetime.
Now he can take Jenna on a nice honeymoon and have one amazing Thanksgiving.
And what about the cool million?
“I might get a nice television,” he said.
Now there’s a humble guy.
Happy Thanksgiving, 2016!
