Adam Hadwin | The Star Phoenix

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PGA Tour player Adam Hadwin was in Saskatoon for the Synergy 8 Builders’ 15th annual Drive for Kids Campaign at the Willows Golf and Country Club and Prairieland Park on Thursday.

Saskatoon StarPhoenix sports reporter Darren Zary caught up with Hadwin for a Q&A before he hit the driving range to warm up for Thursday’s golf round and the banquet.

Q: You were born in Moose Jaw but grew up in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Even though you may not have any memory of your short time in Saskatchewan, is there any part of you that still feels that you are from this province, too, and not just B.C.?

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A: Absolutely. No, 100 per cent. I feel like I’m a Prairie boy at heart. My mom grew up here in Saskatoon. My parents (Gerry and Brenda) are actually back living here in Saskatoon now. I came here a lot as a kid during the summertime when my grandparents were here.

Yeah, so I spent at least a week or two every summer coming to see grandparents and hanging out and playing Saskatoon (golf courses) with my grandpa. I have a lot of good memories from the city. I consider Abbotsford home because I went through high school and all that, but yeah, I feel like a Saskatchewan boy. My dad actually works now at Saskatoon Golf and Country Club as a starter, so it’s kind of come full circle.

Q: You’ve been on the tour for a while now. What’s the best part of being a PGA Tour member, and maybe the worst part? Is there any sort of perk that maybe you never expected or maybe the average golf fan wouldn’t know about?

A: Obviously, the best part is being able to live out a dream. I mean, it’s something I’ve worked for a long time. One of those ‘occupations’ that you think about as a kid and ‘that would be really cool and fun’ and I get to live that out. That’s probably the coolest part of what we do.

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The hardest part? It’s being on the road for two or three weeks, being away from my family (wife Jessica and daughter Maddox), Facetimeing and stuff. It just kind of drags on a little bit. Obviously I know I’m very blessed to be able to do what I do, but, when you are away, it can kind of wear on you a little bit, especially if you’re not playing as well.

Something people may not know or a perk? I feel like everybody knows about courtesy cars and stuff like that. The Tour provides basically a travelling daycare for golfers, guys who travel with families. They provide an opportunity for wives to come out and watch and support us and drop the kids off for a few hours during that.

Q: Speaking of your wife Jessica, she is as well-known as any spouse on the PGA Tour, being so active on the social media platforms. How close do you pay attention to what she may be saying via social media?

A: She’s getting (celebrity status), for sure. (He laughs.) That’s all her. She’s her own woman. She can do what she wants. There have been a few Tweets (on X) where I’ve been, like, ‘Ahh, it’s kind of pushing it,’ you know? Every once in a while when she gets a really spicy one, she’ll send it to me first and a lot of it, I think she knows if she ever sends me one, she probably won’t post it anyways. But, no, she’s developed a following. She brings a comedic part to our sort of everyday life and I think people attached themselves to that, for sure.

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Q: So you’re obviously able to take a tackle (as evident last year after Nick Taylor’s dramatic win at the RBC Canadian Open when a security guard mistook Hadwin for an overzealous fan and tackled him hard on the 18th green). Any chance that you played a bit of tackle football back in the day growing up?

A: No, I never did. I never played football. I played rugby for a year, way back when. I didn’t last very long. I didn’t like getting hit — and I never expected to be hit … playing golf. It’s kind of a freak moment but, thankfully, I absorbed it pretty well and I came out OK.

Q: Years ago, you played at the Dakota Dunes Golf Links in Saskatchewan as part of the Canadian Tour. How tough of a grind was that to play on that tour, and how big of a relief was it to graduate to the big tour?

A: It’s funny. Obviously you’re not making a ton of money, but it was a place to kind of get your footing, understand professional golf, learn how to travel, and I don’t think I’m the only one but I kind of look back on those times as some of my best memories I have of professional golf.

Some of that was the essence of why we started to play, a little bit, right? If you played well, you could make some money, but most of us were kind of single, figuring it out, younger and we just travelled city to city, hanging out, billeting and going to dinners together. Guys were kind of closer together, travelling together and pinching pennies best as possible to kind of survive until you get to the next level.

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I know guys had a harder time on it than I did — I played well and, financially, it made it a lot easier to travel and do all that stuff. It was just a great place to learn the game and figure it out on your own, kind of thing, because you couldn’t afford to do anything else.

Q: There was a time when the only Canadians on the tour were guys like Graham DeLaet and David Hearn. Now there are so many more Canucks on the tour and others knocking on the door. Just how proud are you to be a part of that group?

A: It’s incredible. I speak about it every time I get an opportunity. It’s amazing the progress that we’ve made as a group. It was very few of us, then there were more of us and it was whether we keep (PGA Tour) cards or not. Now, it seems like it’s about who’s the next person to (get on the tour). Who’s the next guy to win? Who’s the next guy to win (a major)’?

It’s representation on President’s Cup (teams), all that kind of stuff. It’s been a great group to be a part of. We play a lot of practice rounds together. We know each other very well. I think we’re always rooting for each other.

Q: Speaking of those Canadian players and the President’s Cup. With team captain Mike Weir, the International squad includes the likes of fellow Canadians Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Taylor Pendrith. Of course, Nick Taylor and Connors represented Canada in the recent Paris Olympics. Are you feeling a bit left out at all, or just happy for those guys?

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A: Oh, first thing, I’m happy for them. They’ve earned it. You know, Nick and Corey qualified for (the Oympics) for a reason and the three of them (Conners, Hughes and Pendrith) were picked for a reason in the President’s Cup.

Obviously, I’m disappointed that I didn’t make either. But I look at it more internally that I just didn’t play well enough. I didn’t do enough. I didn’t show Mike — specifically regarding President’s Cup — enough to be worthy of a pick, so I’m happy for them. I’m excited that they get the opportunity to represent Canada in Montreal. But, yeah, I certainly would have liked to be there.

Q: So, lastly, you’ve already won on the PGA Tour. What goals do you have left to pursue?

A: To kind of finish it off, one would be play out this journey as long as possible, something as simple as that. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been 10 years already since I’ve been on Tour, 15 years total as a professional, which is wild to think.

Just kind of ride this out, ride this momentum as long as possible. To get back on some of those teams. To get back on a President’s Cup. The ultimate goal, obviously, is to win a major. I’d like to contend in a major again. Baby steps. I’d do some of that. Professionally, just enjoy this ride for as long as I can.

dzary@postmedia.com

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