While there isn’t the instant excitement in professional golf that one can experience in professional football and basketball, Sunday’s final round at the 60th annual Desert Classic on the PGA Tour was one for the record books. Thankfully there were multiple minutes of advertising during the NFL playoffs, and while my primary focus this past weekend was the NFC and AFC championship games, the golfers in the final pairing at the Desert Classic gave us a great display of golfing theater and drama with a most surprising conclusion.
Going into the final round at the PGA West Stadium Course, Phil Mickelson held a two-stroke lead over Adam Hadwin and a three-stroke margin over tour rookie Adam Long. For all intents and purposes, it looked like Phil’s tournament to win. He had opened up play with a brilliant 12-under-par 60 on Thursday and followed it up with rounds of 68 on Friday and 66 on Saturday. Arguably, Phil Mickelson is the second-best golfer of his generation after Tiger Woods. Phil has five major championships on his golfing resume, has 43 total wins on the PGA Tour, and has pocketed just more than $90 million in professional earnings. He has been on golf’s radar for what seems like forever, having won the World Junior as a 10-year-old in 1980. He accumulated three NCAA titles and a United States Amateur win prior to turning pro.
Adam Hadwin, one of the PGA Tour’s more interesting stories because he grew up in the decidedly non-golfing environment of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, was assumed to be one golfer who might be capable of running down Mickelson. He’s got a PGA Tour win to his credit, having won the Valspar in Florida in 2017, won a pair of Web.com Tour events, won twice on the Canadian Tour, and picked up seven mini-tour victories when he initially turned pro some eight years ago. On top of that, Hadwin had several close calls in past Desert Classics. For a guy from northern Canada, desert golf seemed to suit him. During the course of 127 PGA Tour events, Adam had banked just less than $9 million. He is ranked 57th in the world and continues to improve as a professional golfer.
Because they played Sunday’s round in threesomes, Adam Long was the third member of the penultimate pairing. He earned that distinction by opening play in the Desert Classic with a first-round 63 that was largely ignored because of Mickelson’s 60. He followed it up on Friday with a decidedly rookie 71. He then got back in gear on Saturday and threw another 63 at the field. Nonetheless, there was zero reason to assumed that Long would have any sort of an impact on Sunday afternoon at the Stadium Course. He found himself in uncharted territory.
Adam Long played golf at Duke University. While everyone knows about Duke and its basketball program, the golf program has been historically middle-of-the-road. Upon graduation, Long headed out to the mini-tours. He turned pro in 2010 and had his first mini-tour win at the Woodcreek Open on the Hooters Tour in 2011. I should be more accurate and mention that his win at Woodcreek would turn out to be his only win on the mini-tours. Long moved on to the Canadian Tour, the LatinoAmerica Tour, and finally got a battlefield promotion onto to AAA level Web.com Tour. He spent four years on the Web.com Tour, played in 113 tournaments, had 13 top-10 finishes, and won $551,642 during the course of those mini-tour years. He was living the dream but he wasn’t exactly moving the needle nor was he paying the bills.
Adam did finish among the top 25 on the Web.com Tour in 2018, and at age 31 he finally got to tee it up on the PGA Tour. Last October he finished tied for 63rd at the Safeway Open at Silverado and won $13,568 for his efforts. He then missed his next three cuts, including last week in Hawaii. Teeing off on Sunday in the desert, Adam Long had played in exactly five PGA tournaments this season. Phil Mickelson had won exactly five major championships.
Of course, Adam Long found magic during his final round of the Desert Classic. Phil Mickelson seemed beatable, missing a 4-footer and making a bogey on the opening hole, struggling all day long with the putter, and carding a final-round 3-under-par 69 to get to 25-under-par for the tournament. It looked like Adam Hadwin would take advantage of Phil’s putting issues as he made the nine-hole turn with a 5-under-par 31 to take the lead. However Hadwin’s journey to the winner’s circle hit the brakes on the back nine as he carded an even-par 36 to finish his day with a 67 and an aggregate total of 25-under-par to match Phil.
Admitting that he was trying to play well enough to card a top-10 finish and get into the field the following week at the Farmers Insurance Championship at San Diego’s Torrey Pines, Adam Long birdied the first two holes on Sunday morning. However he then got on the par train and didn’t make another birdie until he added a third birdie on the ninth hole. With nine holes to go, the rookie was hanging in there in his quest to stay in the top 10. He was three shots behind Hadwin and he was one back of Phil. Talor Gooch and Dominic Bozzelli were charging up the leader board, and defending champion Jon Rahm was lurking close behind.
And then it all turned magical for Adam Long. He chipped in for birdie on the 12th hole. He birdied 14 and then chipped in again for birdie on the 15th hole. Hadwin was playing par golf, Phil would birdie 15 and 16, and suddenly with one hole to go, all three golfers were tied at the top. Long hit the worst drive of the trio on 18, but hit the shot of his career to 14 feet. Phil left his second shot 35 feet short while Hadwin nuked his second shot and went long into the bunker. Adam Long knocked down the curling 14-footer, and suddenly his career earnings were enhanced by his winner’s share of $1.062 million. It truly was a magical moment for Long.
What happens next is anyone’s guess. Adam Long could be a one-hit wonder like Matt Every or the latest version of Jimmy Walker. He will be in the field at this year’s Players Championship, Masters and PGA Championship. He will be exempt on tour through 2021. His career will forever be determined by the fact that he is a PGA Tour champion, even if he never gets to go back and defend his title at the struggling Desert Classic. This was one of those classic moments where on any given Sunday the golfing underdog can prevail over the aging superstar and the rock-solid Canadian. Adam Long is the 2019 Desert Classic titlist and he is as equally surprised as the rest of us.
