Grades: Hudson Swafford gets first win with stunning finish at CareerBuilder Challenge
Swafford joined a heavy Georgia contingent on the PGA Tour with a big win in the desert
There have been three PGA Tour tournaments played so far in 2017. In two of the three, the shot of the tournament has come on the 71st hole from the final group. In the Tournament of Champions to open the calendar year, it was Justin Thomas who stuck a dreamy iron from forever away to seal the deal. On Sunday, it was Hudson Swafford who nearly made an ace on the par-3 17th at the CareerBuilder Challenge to get his first career win.
The Georgia alum was flowing a little bit with two straight birdies entering the tough No. 17 (and an almost-eagle), and this was the swing of the week (and year) for him so far.
Entering Alcatraz with a one-shot lead ...
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 22, 2017
Talk about a golf shot. #QuickHitspic.twitter.com/UAncuXLKrD
Runner up Adam Hadwin (who shot 59 on Saturday) covered Swafford up with a birdie of his own on the same hole to stay one back going to the final hole of the tournament. They both made par and Swafford took the trophy.
Swafford finished birdie-birdie-birdie-par to get to 20 under to Hadwin's 19 under. Swafford earned it, too. It's not easy to hold off a golfer who'd just come off his career round. Swafford was the best driver in the field on the week and played bogey-less golf over his final 17 holes. His 67 on Sunday was third-best in the entire field, and he was the only golfer out of that group truly in the mix.
This is tough to do: In last 18 starts, Hudson Swafford has zero top-10s and zero MCs. Might be about to add first win to that consistency.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelESPN) January 22, 2017
Swafford came into the week with 92 career events and zero finishes in the top three. He has been a mainstay on the PGA Tour for the last three years, having earned just under $3 million with a top 10 in each season but nothing all that close to a win. Now, he joins Georgia pals Harris English, Chris Kirk and Brian Harman with a win.
Most PGA Tour wins by player's college - since beginning of 2010@UGAGolf 21 (including Swafford today)@UNLVGolf 16@UTexasGolf 12
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) January 22, 2017
"He acts like nothing bothers him, but I know watching all of his buddies win definitely bothered him," said Harman who finished T3 on Sunday. That's evidenced today with how he's playing. So I'm proud of the way that's doing it ... he hits it a long way, and he's as good a guy as you would ever want to meet."
Here are our grades for the CareerBuilder Challenge.
Phil Mickelson (T21): I'm grading Lefty on a scale here because he was returning from injury this week so he scores a high mark for making the cut and even pretending to content on the weekend. All indications from the biggest names in golf (Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy) point towards this being a monster season. Mickelson did nothing to dissuade this idea this week.
"I think this was a good start for me for the year," said Mickelson after shooting 11 under on the week. "The only way to find out where your game is at is to play in competition. And so this is a great place for me to start and see where I'm at. I'm much further along than I thought I would be. I understand that, when you enter a tournament, you want to try to win and certainly that's the goal. But I knew that my game wasn't sharp, I didn't feel like I was ready to win, per se, but now I feel like my game's come a long ways in the last week."
Mickelson's body might look (and seem) a little older (because it is), but his swing is as pure as ever.
The Mickelson Special.#QuickHitspic.twitter.com/tk5xRTUHga
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 22, 2017
Grade: A-
Danny Lee (T41): Wait, Danny Lee shot a 1-over 73 on Sunday to finish T42, why are we talking about him? We're talking about him because he mocked Mickelson while playing with him on Sunday with this amazing leap in the air. Mickelson wore jackets and vests all week with the silhouette of him from the 2004 Masters where he leaped about four inches in the air.
Lee made a short putt on Sunday and did the same while playing in the same group as Lefty. Amazing work from Lee, and he gets a high mark for giving Mickelson crap during an actual PGA Tour round.
Danny Lee gets it.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 22, 2017
#QuickHitspic.twitter.com/cOQW3JoI5h
Grade: B+
Patrick Reed (T12): I don't really know what to make of Reed. He's a top 10 player in the world, and every time I think he's going to make the leap into basically posting a top 10 at every tournament, he falls off just slightly. It took a 65 on Sunday to even sneak into the top 15 for Reed who won this tournament a few years ago. He's not playing poorly by any means, but he's not playing as sharply as I would expect from a top-10 player.
Grade: B
Bud Cauley (T3): Cauley had missed four straight cuts leading into this event before leading with just a handful of holes to go on Sunday. The ultimate reminder of how insane this sport is. I like Cauley's game a lot. He's seemingly calm and is in the same mold of the better ball-strikers on the PGA Tour. Like many of them, though, it all comes down to putting (which Cauley did not do well this week -- he was 68th in the field in two measured rounds).
Still, this could (and should) be a launching pad for a nice season.
Grade: A















