Billy Hurley III held a club in his left hand and fist-pumped with his right. The ball disappeared into the hole as the crowd roared and Hurley let loose the emotion he had been holding in.
“That’s probably like the most emotion I’ve ever shown in my life,” Hurley said.
An hour later, not far from his Annapolis, Maryland, home and the US Naval Academy he graduated from 12 years ago, Hurley became a champion. He shot a two-under 69 on Sunday to win his hometown Quicken Loans National at Congressional Country Club for his first PGA Tour victory.
“Couldn’t be a better tournament to win from all the facets of it,” Hurley said with the trophy in front of him. “From just being close to home, being close to the academy, close to where I grew up. It’s just perfect.”
The 607th-ranked player in the world finished at 17-under in Tiger Woods’ annual tournament, three strokes ahead of three-time major champion Vijay Singh, who said it was nice to see Hurley play well and not lose it at the end.
Hurley did not lose it. He only got better as it went along.
To beat Singh, Ernie Els and 21-year-old Jon Rahm, Hurley showed the poise he developed at the Naval Academy and during his five years of service.
Mental toughness and focus he said help with adversity on the course, and that showed through in his 104th PGA Tour start.
With 53-year-old Singh closing on him, Hurley was at his best. He holed out from 35 yards on the fairway for birdie on the 15th, a shot worthy of celebration and one Woods himself called “impressive, really impressive.”
As if that was not enough, Hurley made a 27-foot putt on the 16th to seal the tournament and wrap up the US$1.24 million first-place prize and a spot in The Open Championship.
Hurley the family man said it was not a foregone conclusion he would go to Royal Troon, because his sister is getting married that weekend in Leesburg, Virginia, where they grew up.
Open or no, it was a career-altering victory for Hurley, who served five years in the US Navy and showed he could master drives off the tee as well as he mastered driving ships through the Suez Canal. Before now, he had never finished better than a tie for fourth in a PGA Tour event.
“To have a serviceman actually win the event, it doesn’t get any better than that,” Woods said. “He’s actually truly one that did serve his country, and for him to win an event that honors the military more than any other event, it’s very apropos that he did it here.”
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