CareerBuilder Challenge 2017: Final Leaderboard Scores, Prize-Money Payouts
With a late push on the back nine, Hudson Swafford earned his first career PGA Tour victory at the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, California.
With a final score of 20 under, Swafford beat out Adam Hadwin by one shot, with Brian Harman and Bud Cauley tying for third at 18 under.
Swafford will earn a little over $1 million from Sunday's win, which equals 38 percent of his career earnings ($2,708,393) on the PGA Tour entering the tournament. Below is a look at the payouts for the top 10 finishers, per ESPN.com:
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| 1 | Hudson Swafford | -20 | $1,044,000 |
| 2 | Adam Hadwin | -19 | $626,400 |
| T3 | Bud Cauley | -18 | $336,400 |
| T3 | Brian Harman | -18 | $336,400 |
| 5 | Dominic Bozzelli | -17 | $232,000 |
| T6 | Brendan Steele | -16 | $201,550 |
| T6 | Chad Campbell | -16 | $201,550 |
| 8 | Scott Stallings | -15 | $179,800 |
| T9 | Sean O'Hair | -14 | $156,600 |
| T9 | Martin Laird | -14 | $156,600 |
| T9 | Richy Werenski | -14 | $156,600 |
In addition to never having won a PGA Tour event, Swafford had zero top-three finishes and only three top-10 finishes in 92 career tournaments. Fellow PGA Tour veteran Harris English thought Swafford would end his title drought sooner or later:
Cauley appeared to be in a great position to win after moving to 18 under following a birdie on No. 14, which put him atop the leaderboard above four golfers who were tied for second. Cauley's momentum stalled, however, and he carded pars on the final four holes to conclude his round.
That left the door open for Swafford and Hadwin to duke it out for the top spot.
Three straight birdies late in his final round propelled Swafford to success Sunday. He made his move between the 15th and 17th holes and climbed into first place with a two-shot lead. The 29-year-old learned from his mistakes on the previous day, when he lost three strokes in the last three holes of the third round.
Hadwin made things interesting after sinking a 26-foot putt for a birdie on No. 17. The PGA Tour shared a replay of his shot:
But Swafford remained steady on No. 18. He dropped his approach a little under 21 feet from the cup with his second shot, which allowed him to two-putt for the title.
Swafford had a brief hiccup to begin his final round—a bogey on the first hole—but he was otherwise solid on the day. He averaged 319 yards off the tee—his best single-round average of the CareerBuilder Challenge—and reached 15 of the 18 greens in regulation.
GolfChannel.com's Nick Menta noted that Sunday's victory qualified Swafford for this year's Masters, so he can begin his preparations for a trip to Augusta National Golf Club in April. It will be his third appearance at a major tournament after he missed the cut at the 2010 and 2014 U.S. Opens.
Post-Round Reaction
"They don't give them away out here," Swafford said of his win, per the Associated Press (via the Los Angeles Times). "It's not easy. I've been close. I've been in the heat lately. Just keep putting myself in position, and this just feels unbelievable."
"To make three of the last four, it's pretty special," he also said of his final stretch, per Menta.
Hadwin was frustrated he was unable to create more drama on the final hole, according to the AP: "I would have loved to have put a little bit more pressure on Hud coming up the 18th. But just to be able to get up and down from the lie that I had from over there was pretty impressive."
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