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TSN Senior Reporter

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Adam Hadwin got a front-row seat to some history on Saturday. Justin Thomas, playing in the group in front of him, posted a nine-under 63, the lowest score in relation to par in the history of the United States Open.

But while Thomas was soaring, Hadwin was seething, frustrated at his round of 75 that included just a single birdie. The score left the Canadian at the back of the pack, tied for 47th spot. It’s not where he expected to be.

Despite hitting plenty of fairways (11) and greens (14), Hadwin never seemed to be able to get his ball close enough for decent birdie opportunities.

“Honestly the patience was wearing very thin by the end of the round,” admitted Hadwin. “Especially when you feel that you’re close like that but just not quite getting it done.”

His struggles were evident from the start. On the first hole, he hit his wedge from just outside 75 yards and watched it end up about 20 feet from the hole. He two-putted from par from there.

On the second hole, a wrong yardage and club selection off the tee saw him hit it too far on the short par-4 hole. That left him 56 yards and an awkward-distance wedge that never got up to the elevated green, slipping back down into a collection area from where he ended up with a bogey.

It carried on from there as Hadwin’s approach shots never seemed close enough and his putts never seemed to drop. He was clearly fighting it despite not playing that poorly.

“I hit a lot of good shots, not a lot of great shots,” said the Abbotsford, B.C., product. “Again, I had a lot of those mid-range 15 or 20 footers that I just seemed to be off a little bit, whether it’s a couple of inches too hard or a couple inches too much break.”

By the end of the day, the frustration built to a point where it was bubbling over. Hadwin, who has done a good job of managing his emotions over the last year – something that’s led to his improved play – was inwardly frothing at not being able to make birdies while seemingly all those around him were.

“I’m not happy. I’m ready to break clubs. I’m not going to do it but I have to figure it out.”

A sloppy bogey on the par-5 18th hole didn’t help matters. Neither did the fact that the scoreboard was awash in red numbers as players piled up the birdies over the soggy, defenseless Erin Hills course.

“You’d like to say no, but I’ll say yes,” Hadwin admitted when asked if all the red numbers on the scoreboard bothered him. “You know there are a lot of birdies out there. Playing a golf course as soft as it was, you knew guys were going to go low. You had to make some birdies. But the mind set was still just try to hit good shots and stay patient and let it come to you. After 15 or 16 holes of doing that and it not coming to you, it definitely tested the patience a little bit. Pretty much wore off by the end.”

Sunday is still meaningful. Hadwin wants world ranking points to stay inside the top 50 (he’s currently 49th), he wants Presidents Cup points (he’s 11th) and perhaps more than anything, he wants to try and flip the switch and get to playing as he did earlier in the season when he won his first tournament and shot a round of 59. He believes his game is close to being back to that point, but he just can’t seem to find the way to get it all working together.

Perhaps he can draw some inspiration from Thomas’s stellar round and turn Sunday into a strong finish.