Adam Svensson wins first PGA Tour title
Canadian golfer Adam Svensson has finally broken his PGA Tour duck after emerging victorious in the RSM Classic.
A unique tour victory
Svensson won the PGA Tour event after finishing on -19, two shots ahead of three golfers who tied for second: the Americans Sahith Theegala and Brian Harman along with Englishman Callum Tarren, who all finished on -17. The 28-year-old’s victory is unique, he is the only first-time winner to triumph in one of the nine PGA Tour events held this autumn.
Svensson is the second Canadian to win a PGA Tour event this season after Mackenzie Hughes edged out Sepp Straka in a playoff to win the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi last October.
As the winner of the RSM Classic, which was held at the Sea Island Seaside Course in Saint Simons Island, Georgia, Svensson took home prize money of over £1.1 million, which makes 2022 his best year for earnings in his entire career.
The Canadian was understandably emotional after the victory, telling reporters: “It’s not even real right now. I’m just so happy. I just put so much work in, and to win on the PGA Tour means everything to me.”
An invitation to two majors
The PGA Tour win also means that Svensson has earned an invitation to the first major of the year, the 2023 Masters at the Augusta National Golf Course, which will take place from the 6th to the 9th of April. The win also includes an invitation to the PGA Championship, which will take place at the Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York from the 18th to the 21st of May 2023. In yet another first, the Masters appearance will represent his debut in a major.
However, Svensson is a rank outsider to win the Masters. Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm of Spain are joint favourites at odds of 10/1 in the latest online betting Canada. In the PGA Championship, McIlroy is 10/1 favourite, followed by Rahm at odds of 12/1.
The tour is currently on a break but will begin again in January with the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, Hawaii, an event for which Svensson has also qualified thanks to his first PGA Tour win.
While Svensson is ranked in 72nd place in the World Rankings, one place ahead of fellow countryman Adam Hadwin, the victory in the RSM Classic has elevated him to seventh place in the list of money leaders with Mackenzie Hughes in sixth place.
The success in the RSM Classic represents a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Svensson as he is beginning his third full year on the tour. But there were signs that success was just around the corner for the Canadian when he shot a round of 62 to take the lead in the first round in the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship in Kentucky last July. He ultimately achieved a creditable sixth-place finish in the US golf event after a final round of 71.
The thin margins between success and failure in golf were in evidence in the RSM Classic as Svensson holed two birdies to deny Callum Tarren an invite to the Masters. Finishing just one shot behind, Tarren was left to ponder what could have been, although he was given some consolation in the form of prize money worth £496,000 for finishing joint second at the US course, the highest payday of his career so far.
Svensson now has the opportunity to make his mark at two majors next year and with his confidence high thanks to his first PGA Tour victory, the sky’s the limit for the Canadian over the next few years.
