Canada’s Adam Svensson scored a 6-under 64 to finish two strokes ahead of the pack and earn his first career PGA Tour victory Sunday at the RSM Classic at St. Simons Island, Ga.
His big day came 24 hours after he had shot a blistering 8-under 62 to vault himself into contention. On Sunday, he held off three golfers with four birdies along his back nine, including birdies on 16 and 17 to win in his 70th career start.
“I looked on the leaderboard on 15, the par 5 there, and hit a poor wedge shot and made par,” Svensson said. “But I knew there’s a couple good birdie chances on 16 and 17 with a front flag. And the shot on 16, it kind of spun back but it was kind of an easy putt uphill left to right and I just knew I hit it hard enough and it went in. And the one on 17, I didn’t think it was going to go in and somehow it just dove in, I don’t know.”
England’s Callum Tarren (64 on Sunday), Sahith Theegala (66) and Brian Harman (65) tied for second.
In leading the field in putting, Svensson gave himself the short game necessary to take home his best finish since a sixth-place landing at the Barbasol Championship in July. The win also got him up to 583 points in the FedEx Cup, good for sixth place.
The 16th Canadian to win a PGA Tour event, the 28-year-old Svensson had talked openly of perhaps quitting golf as recently as 2020, in the wake of losing his Tour card. The turning point for him was recommitting himself to the sport and putting 100 percent into it.
“It’s been a dream of mine since I was 10 years old, 8 years old,” Svensson said. “It’s just incredible. I don’t think the money does — I don’t think money really does anything. It’s the feeling of coming down the stretch and winning and all that stuff, you just can’t beat it.”
Tarren forged a tie for second two shots behind Svensson with a round featuring birdies on Holes 1, 2, 5, 8, 10 and 18.
“I felt super comfortable all day,” Tarren said after the best finish of his career. “Got off to a real hot start, 3 under through five, I think. Just kept hitting greens, giving myself chances all day. I think I missed one green.
“It’s the best golf tour in the world and I love playing out here and hopefully I’m out here for a long time.”
Tied with Tarren in second place were Sahith Theegala (66) and Brian Harman (65).
Five players, four of them Americans, tied for fifth place at 15 under. Those golfers were Joel Dahmen (64), Cole Hammer (65), Chris Stroud (65) and Alex Smalley (67).
Ireland’s Seamus Power also finished in the tie for fifth after carding a final-round 66.
–Field Level Media