It's safe to say that, entering the third round at the Honda Classic, nobody was picking Mackenzie Hughes to win the tournament. After all, Hughes barely even made it to the weekend and was coming off of nine missed cuts in his last 11 events.
In the end, he didn't win the tournament. But he sure did come close.
After draining a three-foot putt on his final hole Friday to make the cut on the number, Hughes caught fire over the weekend. The Dundas, Ont., native shot a pair of 4-under-par 66s on Saturday and Sunday to put himself right in the thick of it coming down the stretch.
Hughes entered the final three holes on Sunday tied for the lead, but a bogey on the 16th dropped him one stroke behind leader Sungjae Im.
On the par-3 17th, Im put his tee shot in close while Hughes blocked his well out to the right. However, the Canadian ignited the Florida crowd by draining the 54-foot putt for birdie to regain a temporary share of the lead.
54 feet.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 1, 2020
To tie the lead.
And it's PERFECT.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/v809WBrNvr
Im was unfazed, calmly rolling in his birdie putt to pull back ahead with one hole left to play.
The South Korean's tee shot on 18 found the left rough while Hughes smashed his drive down the middle.
With a birdie looking likely to at least force a playoff, Hughes made a big unforced error. He went for the aggressive play from the fairway with a 3-wood but duck-hooked it straight left into a grandstand filled with spectators. After taking relief he was left with just over 70 yards from the rough for his third shot.
Im laid up in the fairway with his second shot but chunked a wedge into the greenside bunker with his third, leaving himself a very difficult up-and-down for par. Hughes then hit a solid wedge onto the green, giving him a look at birdie.
With the pressure on, Im then delivered arguably the shot of the tournament. Facing an awkward bunker shot with water over the green, he splashed out to two feet, essentially forcing Hughes to make his putt to tie. The Canadian's effort from 20 feet had just a bit too much speed, sliding by the right side of the cup to end his hopes.
A late surge by Englishman Tommy Fleetwood also came up short, giving Im his first PGA Tour win in his 50th attempt.
A victory would have been the second of Hughes' career, with the first coming back in 2016 at The RSM Classic. It would also have made him the second Canadian to win on the PGA Tour this year after Nick Taylor triumphed at Pebble Beach.
MORE: Nick Taylor goes wire-to-wire at Pebble Beach
Despite the week not ending with a victory, it was by far the best result of Hughes' season, and his first top-10 since the Charles Schwab Challenge in May. He jumped 157 spots in the FedEx Cup standings all the way up to 66th, giving him a good platform to build on for the rest of the year.
