Tallahassee Democrat from Tallahassee, Florida • D2

2D TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT SPORTS PALM HARBOR Adam Hadwin only wanted a chance to win on the final hole Sunday at the Valspar Championship. He could have done without the self-inflicted drama. Hadwin lost a two-shot lead with one swing on the 16th hole when his tee shot sailed into the water and led to double bogey. The 29-year-old Canadian kept his wits and closed with two pars, the final one good enough for a one-shot victory over Patrick Cantlay. The victory sends him to Augusta National for the first time, even if it means altering a honeymoon trip to Tahiti.

Hadwin is getting married March 24. just wanted a chance to win coming up the last, and I had that Hadwin said. Hadwin closed with an even-par 71, and it was hard work to the end. Tied for the lead, and with Cantlay having come up short into a bunker, Hadwin went just over the back of the green against the collar of the fringe. He used the leading edge of a sand wedge to send it down the slope to 2 feet from the cup.

Cantlay came up well short and missed his 15-foot par putt to force a playoff. He closed with a 68. Hadwin is the third Canadian to qual- ify for the Masters, joining RSM Classic winner Mackenzie Hughes and 2003 champion Mike Weir. The consolation prize for Cantlay was arunner-up finish that paid $680,400, more than enough for him to secure full status for the rest of the year. The former No.

1amateur was playing for only the second time since 2014 because of a stress fracture in his back Even in loss, it was a bright return for the UCLA star. Cantlay wondered if his back would ever allow him to regain his game, and he endured an even greater burden a year ago February when his best friend and caddie, Chris Roth, was struck and killed by a car as they were walking to a restaurant for dinner in California. really feel like much consolation at the Cantlay said about securing his card. finish the Hadwin finished at 14-under 270 after aduel that featured big putts along the back nine of the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook. Tours NEW DELHI S.S.P.

Chawrasia successfully defended his Indian Open title on Sunday, finishing with a 10-under-par 278 for a comfortable seven-stroke victory. GOLF ROUNDUP Hadwin hangs on at Innisbrook ASSOCIATED PRESS AP Adam Hadwin chips onto the first green during final round of the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook in Palm Harbor. LAS VEGAS Martin Truex Jr. finished speaking to reporters after winning the NASCAR Cup race Sunday and retreated into a corner of the media center where a tablet awaited with the video cued up. Truex had to see the Kyle Busch-Joey Logano brawl, too.

sure NASCAR is going to love that Truex said. Truex passed Brad Keselowski with two laps to go and avoided a last-lap wreck and ensuing fight that left forehead bloodied in a wild finish. An aggressive Joey Logano got into Busch as they raced for third, sending Busch spinning down pit road at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. was nothing Logano said. obviously he thinks As Truex headed toward victory circle, Busch walked down pit road, turned right and threw a right hook at face.

crew members brought Busch to the ground as NASCAR officials yelled for them to stop. When they were separated and Busch got to his feet, he had a bloody gash above his right eye. much talking, just a lot of said Logano, who said he was unhurt. was racing hard there at Busch, who had recovered from a speeding penalty that left him a lap down to get into contention, was escorted to the infield care center and quickly released as the track buzzed. got dumped.

He flat out just drove straight in the corner and wrecked Busch said. how Joey races, so going to get The fight overshadowed a dominating day for Truex and a tough-luck fin- ish for Keselowski, who appeared to be pulling away after a restart and on his way to his second win in as many weeks when he ran into mechanical problems. just know it was something he said. turn and I lost Truex passed him and held on to become the first driver to win all three segments in NASCAR new stage racing. Kyle Larson was second, followed by Chase Elliott, Logano and Keselowski.

Truex won the first two race stages and took re-took the lead with 39 laps to go after a lengthy cycle of green-flag pit stops. After a hard-charging Keselowski went in front, Danica Patrick blew an engine, bringing out a caution. Keselowski, who started from the pole, just beat Truex out of pit road road after their four-tire stops. He chose the outside lane on the restart and shot ahead until his car slowed at the end. AUTO RACING DAVID BECKER AP Martin Truex Jr.

celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Kobalt 400 in a wild finish on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Truex wins in wild finish at Las Vegas MIKE CRANSTON ASSOCIATED PRESS ST. PETERSBURG Sebastien Bourdais believed he could drive for tiny Dale Coyne Racing and really make a difference for a race team that has little chance against the big guns in IndyCar. But he had a condition: Bourdais wanted to be reunited with the team players he was with when he was recognized as the top driver in open- wheel. So he brought with him engineer Craig Hampson, who led Bourdais to 31victories, 31poles and four consecutive titles from 2004 to 2007.

Bourdais also brought Olivier Boisson, who was the engineer at KVSH Racing the last several seasons. Bourdais and Boisson teamed to win four races for KVSH. This squad showed Sunday it has the potential to be a major player this season in IndyCar. Bourdais pulled off amajor upset in the IndyCar season- opener, driving from last place to a victory on the streets of St. Petersburg that left him in tears.

He credited his two engineers and talked about the complexity of managing relationships while pushing so hard for success. the two guys that understand me the best, have understood me the best, over the he said. takes a very special mindset and relationship to really be able to cope with each other, optimize each other, and carry over the time. pretty exhausting as far as relationships are concerned. very difficult to sometimes not be offensive to people when pushing everybody so hard.

hard because you want this so bad, and you put so much into it, that at some point very easy to be So the potential is there this season for Bourdais to help build the Coyne organization. Few expected it to come Sunday on the temporary street course in St. Pete, the town Bourdais calls home. Team Penske was seeking its fourth consecutive victory in the event, and a problem in qualifying meant Bourdais started last in the 21- car field. Bourdais earned his 36th career victory, which broke a tie with Bobby Unser for sixth on win list.

INDYCAR Bourdais triumphs in opener at St. Pete JENNA FRYER ASSOCIATED PRESS Most people who are critical of Tim disastrous experience with baseball start with this disclaimer: agreat guy, a role model, and the kind of inspiration any manager would want in the clubhouse. Sign me up for this proclamation, verbatim. I believe every word of it. However, seen enough of Tebow in the box to state another obvious fact: Good character justify a farce.

Tebow should do himself a favor and find another hobby. Or, if he see the futility of continuing to play ball, the Mets should gracefully show Tebow the door and let him walk into that wide- open space called the rest of his life. Of course, not going to happen any time soon. The Mets gave Tebow $100,000 just to put on the uniform, insisting this was no marketing ploy. the problem; the Mets have been part of the charade all along.

They should know better actually, the on-field evaluators have been aware of fatal flaws since Day One. the revenue seekers in the organization who are to blame. No. 15 uniform jersey, the same number he wore as a quarterback, was already a hot item months ago. In only his second game in the Instructional League last September, uniform top was the No.

1seller on MLB.com. nothing wrong with being popular; plenty to like about Tebow, and his connection with the fans is well-earned. But hard to take any of this seriously when you actually see Tebow on the field and realize not only fall short of the big leagues, likely be over-matched in the lower minors, too. That .194 average in the Instructional League, including 20 strikeouts in 62 at-bats, hardly bodes well for a 29-year- old. Tebow shown much improvement since.

In fact, he had such a rough time this week the Mets considered it a triumph the former football star strike out in four at-bats against the Astros on Friday. Although he displays impressive power in batting practice, Tebow is otherwise lost at the plate, hitless in seven at-bats with four punch-outs. Mercifully, probably seen the last of him in spring training games. Tebow will spend the rest of the month in minor league camp before being assigned to a Class-A team. It be a total surprise if Tebow ended up with the Brooklyn Cyclones, where the Mets can maximize his media and marketing potential.

COMMENTARY Time for Mets to face facts about Tebow STEVE TODAY SPORTS Mets outfielder Tim Tebow warms up in the on-deck circle during a spring training game against the Astros last Friday in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Tebow is hitless in seven at-bats with four strikeouts in spring training. BOB KLAPISCH USA TODAY SPORTS.