Big finish a welcome relief for Canada’s Hughes

Bob Weeks

TSN Senior Reporter

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After a struggling start to the season that required more than a few confidence checks, a second-place finish in a PGA Tour event can go a long way to restoring belief.

That’s exactly what Mackenzie Hughes did last Sunday at the Honda Classic, coming up just a shot behind winner Sungjae Im.

“It was definitely a fun week,” said the Dundas, Ont.-product a few days after his best performance in a year. “I’m still trying to put it all together. I knew that golf was inside of me. The question was when it was going to come out.”

Coming into the week, Hughes made 11 starts and missed the cut in nine of them. On the two weekends he did play, he finished tied for 55th and tied for 65th.  Even though he had trust in his game and believed a good round was going to be the next one, he had to keep checking his belief and pushing himself forward.

But at the Honda, everything came together. After making the cut on the number, a pair of 66s on the weekend gave him second place.

Still, it’s no surprise to those that know him that there was a part of Hughes that was disappointed in his second-place finish. Ever the competitor, he knows that coming so close it’s hard not to think about what might have been.

“When you come that close,” he stated, “you always want to close it out but this is obviously a huge step forward.”

Call it a giant leap.

 “That’s the biggest hurdle we face in professional golf,” said Hughes. “Do you keep fighting or throw in the towel? I just kept telling myself ‘I’m better than this, this isn’t me.’ ”

Finally, the guy who won consecutive Canadian Amateur titles, won the order of merit on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada and captured the RSM Classic in his rookie year on the PGA Tour, was back playing to the capability that he expected of himself.

Getting back in contention wasn’t just a salve on his scorecard but also something he’d missed.

“It was a blast,” said the 29-year-old. “It’s exactly why we practice and work so hard, to get into those situations. It was great to feel those things again.”

Part of his drive over the weekend came from the emotion he felt after the passing of a close friend, Daniel Meggs, in his adopted home of Charlotte, N.C.

“I just want to tell Daniel, who's up in a better place now, and tell his family, that I'm really thinking about them,” said Hughes, who marked his ball with Meggs’ initials all week. “Daniel was an incredible human being, golfer at Wake Forest, and I was playing for him this week.” 

Hughes showed plenty of resiliency in his final round, with birdies on four of his first 13 holes. But a bogey on the 16th dropped him a shot out of the lead. But on the next hole, he drained a 54-foot putt that elicited two massive fist pumps from Hughes.

“That putt on 17 is something that I’ll remember forever,” he said. “As long as I play golf, that will be in my mind.”

The final round was also made somewhat easier on an emotional level for Hughes due to the presence of Albin Choi, a former teammate on the Canadian National team and member of Hughes’ wedding party.

Choi was doing a one-off carrying the golf bag for eventual winner Sungjae Im.

“If you had said to me six years ago that in the fourth-last group at the Honda Classic it would be me and Albin, I would have believed you,” Hughes laughed. “I didn’t think he would be caddying for the guy I was playing with but it really helped me.”

The two shared a few laughs in between shots, chatting about experiences of playing for Canada in their amateur days. Choi also gave Hughes a little ribbing over his punched three-wood shot on the third hole that didn’t come off quite as desired.

“He asked me what I thought my ball speed was on that shot,” Hughes chuckled. “I said about nine miles an hour.”

There was also a fist-bump between the two after the bomb on 17 dropped, something that wouldn’t have happened if the two weren’t great friends.

The performance gave Hughes a big push up the FedEx Cup standings into 66h spot, and in good position to stay inside the top 125. The $760,000 cheque isn’t bad either.

And while still a long shot, it does keep him in the conversation for a spot on the Canadian Olympic team, a goal of his at the start of the season.

When he tees it up next in two weeks at the Players Championship, he’ll do so with a different perspective.

“I will be a little lighter for sure,” he stated. “I’ll have some peace of mind but also that extra belief knowing that I can do it. It’s pretty awesome to have.”

Awesome indeed.