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Hadwin is one of the more consistent players on the PGA Tour, but he's often failed to show much upside, which is why last year's performance was surprising. Entering this past season, Hadwin had a total of five top-3s in eight full seasons on the PGA Tour, but he picked up three alone this past year. Hadwin made cuts at the second-lowest rate of his career, yet it was his most productive campaugn. The difference this past year was the putter as Hadwin ranked 21st in SG: Putting. If he can keep that up, he'll be in the same range once again, but it's doubtful he can play much better, making him a poor salary cap selection.
Since his debut on the PGA Tour in 2014, Hadwin has never finished below 107th on the FedEx year-end points list. He's also only finished inside the top-30 just once. He's obviously been a steady force on the PGA Tour for almost a decade, but it seems clear that his upside his limited. That being said, Hadwin did post his best career SG: Total mark of his career this past season at 0.68 strokes per round. The Canadian is a short hitter, but the rest of his game is honestly pretty solid all the way through the bag. Expect.a similar type of season in 2022-23.
Hadwin has his lowest earning season in the past five years last season. A big reason was consistency, as Hadwin missed more cuts than he did in the previous three seasons combined. The Canadian was top-20 in SG: putting, but outside the top 170 in SG: approach and GIR percentage. Based on past performance, it seems likely for Hadwin to put together a little better season in 2021-22.
Hadwin wasn't quite as good with the putter this season, but he made a lot of gains in terms of ball striking that led to very consistent results. The Canadian only missed one cut all season and posted three top-10 results. A better putting season and Hadwin gets back to East Lake.
Hadwin has been on the PGA Tour for five seasons and it's still not clear where he belongs. He started his career with a couple decent but unspectacular seasons. His third season however was spectacular as he picked-up his first win on the PGA Tour and over $3 million in earnings. His following season was better than his first two season, but far off the pace he set in season three. This past season was better than the previous, but again, not close to his numbers from his best season. At this point, it's probably best to take a wait and see approach on Hadwin as his number is too high to take a chance on.
Hadwin has four seasons on the PGA Tour under his belt and he's batting about .500. He's had two decent seasons and two above-average seasons. His two most recent seasons have been his best and there's reason to think he'll continue to improve. Hadwin picked-up his first and only win on the PGA Tour during the 2016-2017 season and it helped him surpass the $3 million mark. That price tag made him nearly impossible to select in a salary cap format, but with the drop in production last season, he's back in the range where it's feasible to take him. His ceiling has been established around $3 million, but he's only been there once, which makes it a risky play to take him at this price. He'll likely finish somewhere between where he finished last season and the season prior, which if that's the case, he won't be worth the price in salary cap leagues.
Hadwin had a great start to the 2016-2017 season, and although he faded during the second half of the season, his play was strong enough early-on to carry him into the top-30 at seasons end. Hadwin played well during his first two seasons on the PGA Tour, earning his card during each season. This past season really came out of nowhere, however. Hadwin had zero top-3s in his first two seasons on the PGA Tour, but he posted a win and a runner-up last season, which was the main reason for the huge jump in earnings. Hadwin appears to have the skills to maintain or even increase his level of performance, but buying into his salary at this price point is putting a lot of faith in him.
Hadwin's first two seasons on the PGA Tour have been fairly nondescript. He's essentially grinding his way to a card each season and there's nothing wrong with that, but the upside is a bit limited until he can show the ability to finish well. He has five top-10s in two years, and nothing in the top-3, so it's probably wise to hold-off on Hadwin in salary cap formats this season. In draft leagues he'll go very late.
Hadwin has a chance to be an absolute star. He lit it up in the Web.com Tour Finals, going missed cut (MC)-1-T10-T7 over the four events. The win, his second of the year, came at the Chiquita Classic, and aided by his victory earlier in the season Chile Classic and eight other top-10s, Hadwin was able to supplant Ortiz at the Web.com Tour Championship for the leading Web.com Tour Regular Season + Finals Money List earner, which gets him fully exempt, into the 2015 Players, and off of the Reshuffle List. With fellow Canadian and rising PGA Tour star Graham DeLaet as a resource to help ease his entry into the PGA Tour, look for his rookie season to be one that could include a victory, and possibly a fall win at that. With the PGA Tour season starting October 9 at the Frys.com Open, Hadwin could be a player who carries that momentum into an early season run on the biggest stage in golf.
Hadwin has the distinction of making the cut in every PGA Tour event he's played. That's six in all for those of you counting at home. OK, so it's a small sample size, but it's still impressive. Here's the problem, though. He didn't quite make enough to earn his card in the same fashion that Bud Cauley did and his trip to Q-School did not work out so well, so he's stuck without a card entering the 2012 season. He'll get a few exemptions this year, but probably not enough to make him a viable player on your roster this season.
