When you look at how he’s played this season, the last guy you’d expect to see in contention at the Honda Classic on Sunday was Mackenzie Hughes.
He missed the cut at the Sony, missed the cut at the American Express, missed it again at The Farmers, again in Phoenix and he went home early yet again at Pebble Beach.
Yes, Hughes was zero for five coming into the Honda.
He barely made the cut at PGA National last Friday. Rounds of 71-72 left him three-over and he made it right on the number.
Then something happened.
He shot 66 on Saturday then on Sunday he was four-under for the day through 15 holes. Playing with eventual winner Sungjae Im, Hughes will look back and see how costly the 16th hole turned out for him. He missed his second left of the green, hit a poor pitch then got up-and-down for bogey. That dropped him back to four-under but he gave himself some hope when he made a bomb from 53-feet for an improbable birdie at the 17th. Unfortunately, Im made birdie from inside eight feet to keep a one-shot lead over Hughes.
A wild hook at the 18th for his second left Hughes unable to make birdie and tie Im.
The good news is that the 308th-ranked player in the world would make par and his five-under total was good for solo second and a $763,000 payday. Made up for all the missed cuts. Hughes’ 66-66 over the weekend was the best final 36 of any player in the field.
Maybe, just maybe, he can take enough positives to get back on track. His first and only win came at the 2016 RSM Classic at Harbor Town.
In all, he’d missed cut between last season and the beginning of this season.
Unlikely contender?
For sure.
