Mahan Wins the Barclays, and Then Gets an Even Better Surprise
PARAMUS, N.J. - When he dropped his arms after sinking his eight-foot putt on the 18th hole, the look was one more of relief than of exhilaration for Hunter Mahan. He had made an adventure out of the final hole at Ridgewood Country Club on Sunday, hitting into the woods, then finding the sand before finishing with a bogey.
But with a two-shot advantage over Jason Day, who was playing in the group behind him, Mahan still believed he had enough separation to win the Barclays, the first of four tournaments that make up the FedEx Cup.
'I was thinking, 'That was harder than it needed to be,' ' Mahan said of his five strokes on 18, his only bogey of the day.
Only then did Mahan finally notice his wife, Kandi, and their 1-year-old daughter, Zoe, standing off the green, a little road-weary after a trip from Kandi's family's home in Odessa, Tex., that afternoon. They had landed around 4:15 p.m. and had raced to the course, arriving when Mahan was two holes from finishing.
'He had always said it's a dream to win a tournament and have his baby girl there,' Kandi said.
Last July, Mahan left the Canadian Open, which he was leading after three rounds, to be at Zoe's birth. On Sunday, Zoe was crawling around on the green as her father lifted a trophy for his first PGA Tour victory since 2012.
'I wasn't planning to see them until tomorrow,' Mahan said of his wife and daughter. 'To see them right now and to win is a special feeling.'
Mahan, who finished at 14 under par, holds the course record here, with a 62 in 2008, and he had said even he could envision a win this week. He jumped ahead with a 66 on Thursday before falling behind some of the others, like Day and Jim Furyk, who were tied at the top of the leader board at nine under entering Sunday.
But Mahan played it safe in the fairways, and he was surgical with his iron play. He was seven for seven hitting greens in regulation to begin the back nine.
There was plenty of competition. Day birdied four of his first seven holes, and also 13 and 14. Cameron Tringale shot a 32 on the front nine and was closing out with birdies on 15, 16 and 17 to get to 13 under par.
Then there was Stuart Appleby, who seemed to rise out of nowhere to suddenly challenge for his first PGA Tour win since 2010. Appleby teed off nearly an hour before the leaders, but he birdied five of the first six holes after making the turn, zooming up to the top of the leader board.
'It's been a long time,' Appleby said. 'Today I just thought, Go out there, don't fight; don't wrestle the golf course. If you get an opportunity, give it a roll; see what happens.'
Appleby, though, would get no further than 12 under par. Mahan said he had thought 13 under was the number that might finish in second place. He wanted to go even lower.
On the par-5 17th, his playing partner, Morgan Hoffmann, missed his 29-foot putt wide to the left, but that gave Mahan a line for what he had left for birdie.
'I saw Morgan's putt and I had a feeling - I knew what this putt was going to do,' Mahan said.
Indeed he did. He dropped to 15 under par with a putt that dropped dead center in the cup.
'It felt good to make that one to kind of seal it with authority,' he said.
There was still the 18th hole to play, and Mahan said he had not intended to mess around. Yet his tee shot sailed far to the right, and after playing a safe shot to get back into the fairway, his approach shot from 140 yards leaked left into a bunker.
'I hardly hit one left all week,' Mahan said. 'Sure enough, I hit it left.'
So it made for a spot of drama, but Mahan quickly snuffed it with his bogey save. Day finished in a tie for second place at 12 under with Appleby and Tringale.
Hoffmann, the fan favorite from nearby Wyckoff, N.J., received a rousing ovation when his hometown was announced on the first tee.
And he looked as if he might really challenge for the title, birdieing the first hole with a 36-foot putt.
He bogeyed the third and fourth holes, though, and while he managed to drive the green on the par-4 fifth hole, he wound up three-putting for par.
And though he could not stay in contention himself, finishing at nine under, he had a front-row seat to an exceptional Sunday performance from Mahan.
'He made birdies where he needed to and didn't make mistakes,' Hoffmann said. 'He's a consistent player. It's good to see.'
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