On the Links Saturday’s pro golf results

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC

KAILUA-KONA, HAWAII

Bernhard Langer was declared the winner of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship after strong winds blowing across the Hualalai golf course halted the tournament. “I know a lot of people are disappointed, but I’m not,” Langer said.

It was Langer’s 30th victory on the PGA Tour Champions, moving him into second place on the career list behind Hale Irwin, who has 45 wins on the senior circuit. Langer became the first person to win this event three times while celebrating his 33rd wedding anniversary with wife, Vikki, on Saturday.

Sustained winds of 15-25 mph with gusts up to 45 had golf balls rolling off the greens in the tour’s first event of 2017. Only five golfers in the field of 47 finished their rounds, and the scoring average soared to 79.027. Play was suspended at 1:20 p.m. Hawaii time with Langer and Fred Couples on the first green. Twenty minutes later, the players were called off the course, and the rest of the tournament was called off at 2:10 p.m.

Hall of Fame golfer Tom Watson was 11 over for his round through the 16th hole. The only golfers below par for the day were Paul Goydos at 3 under through 13, Doug Garwood at 1 under through six, Gene Sauers 1 under through 3 and Lee Jansen 1 under after 2.

CAREERBUILDER CHALLENGE

LA QUINTA, CALIF.

The temperature barely climbed into the 60s on a spectacular, clear afternoon in the desert after two rainy days. Adam Hadwin stopped counting at 59 — 13-under 59, that is. The 29-year-old Canadian shot the ninth sub-60 round in PGA Tour history and the second in 10 days to take the third-round lead Saturday in the CareerBuilder Challenge.

“I think everybody talks about kind of they were in a zone and I think that’s kind of what happened,” Hadwin said. “I was thinking about it. I knew exactly where I was. I knew exactly what I needed to do. It just didn’t seem to matter.”

Hadwin made a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-4 17th and got up-and-down for par — making a 3-footer — from just off the green on the par-4 18th at La Quinta Country Club.

Justin Thomas had an 11-under 59 last week in Hawaii in the first round of his Sony Open victory. Hadwin matched David Duval’s tournament record, a 13-under 59 on the Arnold Palmer Private Course in the final round of his 1999 victory. Jim Furyk shot a tour-record 12-under 58 last year in the Travelers Championship.

Hadwin was at 17-under 199 after starting the day tied for 49th at 4 under, a stroke below the eventual cut. He played the first two days at PGA West, shooting 71 on the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course and 69 on the Stadium Course — the site of today’s final round.

“The Stadium Course is a much tougher course than La Quinta,” Hadwin said. “It’s a Sunday. I got a chance to win a golf tournament. That’s what you want going into Sunday, and I’m excited about that. ... They say one of hardest things in golf is to follow up a low round. I have to figure out a way to convince myself that I just shot 67.”

The former Louisville player is the first Canadian — he was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and grew up in Abbortsford, British Columbia — to break 60 on the tour. He’s also the first to accomplish the feat on a par-72 course since Duval, and the only non-winner to break 60 on the tour.

“I think what gives sort of me the most confidence is that I knew exactly what I needed to do and through that whole process, if anything, I was thinking 58,” Hadwin said. “So, to be able to do it when I needed to. I know I was nervous. The putt barely went in on 17, and I only had 6 feet.” Hadwin had 13 birdies in the bogey-free round, hit 12 of 14 fairways, 15 of 18 greens in regulation.

Associated Press