Canadian duo Adam Hadwin/Nick Taylor so close at Zurich Classic

AVONDALE, La. -- Not too often is a 9-under round of 63 met with regret. Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor had some after the final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Starting the day seven strokes off the lead, the Canadian duo knew it needed something special to even sniff the lead. Suffice it to say, Hadwin/Taylor conjured it – carding 10 birdies, including seven in a row to rocket up the leaderboard and briefly sit alone atop it.

“It was pretty ridiculous,” Hadwin said. “We went nuts.”

Yet, with the pace of the contenders behind them, Hadwin/Taylor knew that more was needed. The duo had late birdie looks – a 14-footer on 17 and a 5-footer on 18 – but couldn’t get either to drop, more devastating considering a solo-second finish at 28-under, two shots back of winners Nick Hardy and Davis Riley.

“It is what it is,” Hadwin said. “Heck of a round, 9-under, alternate shot. That's the most amount of birdies we made all week, and we did it (in) alternate shot.”

The round tied for the lowest Foursomes score in tournament history, which was set earlier this week by Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. Hadwin admitted he was gunning for the outright record down the stretch. If they weren’t going to win, he at least wanted to own the milestone alone. His approach shot on the par-5 18th that left Taylor with a 5-foot-5-inch putt would’ve clinched it.

“I think he hit a perfect putt,” Hadwin said. “He did everything right and it just didn’t happen in that moment.”

“Just snapped at the end,” Taylor added.

Given how the rest of the round played out, it was stunning the putt lipped out. Hadwin and Taylor combined to make more than 130 feet of putts in the final round. Two-under through the first six holes, the duo found a rhythm late on the front nine. Taylor made a 9-foot putt to save par on the sixth hole and then didn’t putt again until the 13th as Hadwin one-putted six consecutive holes.

Set up by approaches from Taylor, Hadwin rolled in putts of 6, 14, 40, 13, 7 and 12 feet – all for birdie.

“I drove it in play. His irons were great today, gave me a lot of looks, and I had a great feel for the greens,” Hadwin said.

As dissatisfying as the finish was, it was hard for Hadwin and Taylor to stay upset for long. The result further cements solid seasons for both. The runner-up finish is Taylor’s second of the season. He finished runner-up to Scottie Scheffler at the WM Phoenix Open earlier this year and now sits at 16th in the FedExCup standings. This is Hadwin’s best result to date this season.

While he’s still searching for another PGA TOUR win (his sole TOUR win came at the 2017 Valspar Championship), the 35-year-old has four top-10 finishes and now ranks inside the top 50 in the FedExCup.

Friends since they were 11 years old, Hadwin and Taylor have gone through every step of their golf careers together. They grew up in the same city, Abbotsford, B.C., playing the same course, Ledgeview Golf Club. They were roommates while on the Korn Ferry Tour, got their PGA TOUR cards together in 2014 and continue to stay with each other while traveling. That they shared the record round as a duo felt fitting.

“To kind of come full circle on the PGA TOUR, like (Nick) said, we came out the same year in '15, and here we are eight, nine years later teaming up at Zurich Classic and having a chance to win,” Hadwin said. “So it’s pretty cool.”