Billy Hurley III got into the Quicken Loans National thanks to a sponsor’s exemption courtesy of Tiger Woods.
With everything on the line Sunday, Hurley got a handshake and quick encouragement from Woods at the turn. He then went on to write a story-book finish punctuated by a birdie chip-in at the 15th and a 27-foot putt for birdie at the 16th to seal his break-through win on the PGA Tour.
If the military has a Cinderella, it would be Hurley. He came into the event ranked 607th in the world and after serving a five-year stint in the Navy, he was a latecomer to the tour by modern-day standards. He held the overnight lead and started the final round two in front of playing partner Ernie Els, a winner of four major championships, including a U.S. Open on this same Congressional layout in 1997.
It would be a tough task with Els, Vijay Singh, hot-shot rookie John Rahm and Bill Haas in hot pursuit.
Hurley never backed down. He birdied the ninth to turn one-under and held on to his lead and showed a lot of grit and determination down the stretch. He holed a crucial par-saving 10-footer at the 14th then at the par four 15th, his second came up 10 yards short and he faced another tough task to save par. All he did was hole his pitch shot for birdie to get to 16-under par and set the table for his march to a first win.
A 27-footer for birdie sealed it at the par five 16th and a par-par finish gave him a closing 69 and a three-shot victory over runner-up Vijay Singh.
“Impressive,” said Woods as he watched Hurley down the stretch.
“I couldn’t think of a better tournament for my first PGA Tour win,” said Hurley, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2004. He now lives in Annapolis with his wife and three children. “It’s been a really hard year,” said Hurley, showing some emotion, thinking about the death of his father in August of last year.
The victory was a career-changer for Hurley. He is now exempt for two years, will play in the 2017 Masters, this year’s PGA and British Open championships and he’ll be in the field at this week’s WGC Bridgestone.
What will be talked about was Hurley’s calmness down the stretch when the heat was on.
“The composure, he has, the calmness, I’m so impressed,” said six-time major champion Nick Faldo.
So was everyone else.
