LA QUINTA, CALIF. — Five years ago, The American Express saw surprisingly cloudy and rainy conditions and a surprise winner in Hudson Swafford.
Sunday under warm and sunny skies, Swafford proved that good weather or bad, he knows how to win here.
Fueled by a brilliant eagle on the 16th hole that will go down as one of the best moments in the 63-year history of the event, Swafford stayed ahead of a massive pack of chasers in the closing holes Sunday to win for the second time in the desert and the third time in his career.
Swafford’s 8-under 64 on Sunday vaulted him to a 23-under 265 total, two shots better than Tom Hoge, who shot 68 Sunday. Three golfers finished third at 268.
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“I hit it unbelievable and gave myself plenty of opportunities and the way I have been rolling it this week I knew if I just kept giving myself chances I was going to be just fine,” Swafford said.
Swafford, 34, followed his eagle after a 342-yard drive on the par-5 16th with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th hole, the same hole he birdied down the stretch to beat Adam Hadwin by a shot in 2017. Swafford played the first eight holes of the back nine of the Pete Dye Stadium Course on Sunday with five birdies, one eagle and two bogeys until he parred the par-4 18th hole.
The 2017 victory was the first for Swafford in his PGA Tour career. He now has three wins and becomes the ninth player to win multiple times in The American Express.
Arnold Palmer won the event five times from 1960 through 1973, and two-time winners of the title are Billy Casper, Johnny Miller, John Mahaffey, Corey Pavin, John Cook, Phil Mickelson, Bill Haas and now Swafford.