With his first PGA Tour victory barely in the books, Mackenzie Hughes is already thinking about his first major.

The Tour rookie from Dundas, Ont., captured his first title at the RSM Classic on Monday by draining a 15-foot par putt on the third playoff hole. Along with the US$1.08 million cheque and a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, Hughes also received an invite to the 2017 Masters, where he’ll be in the field with childhood idol and fellow Canadian Mike Weir.

“I was just beside myself thinking about driving down Magnolia Lane and all the things that go along with the Masters,” Hughes said Tuesday. “I’ve watched that tournament basically every year since I started playing golf and it’s like a religious thing to watch every shot there, and now I’m going to be one of those guys.

“It’s just the coolest feeling in the world.”

Weir, who won the Masters in 2003, sent Hughes some “good luck” texts Sunday night and is eager to play a practice round with him at Augusta National next year.

“(Hughes) texted me saying he was looking forward to ‘that tournament in April,”’ said Weir from his home in Salt Lake City. “To have a few Canadians in the field, it’s fun. Hopefully I can show him a few tricks of that golf course. There are a lot of little subtleties that are key to knowing.”

“That first (win) is really special,” Weir added. “All the hard work and everything you’ve put into it have been worth it. I’m sure he feels great that the steps he’s taken along the way have paid off.”

Hughes, who turns 26 Wednesday, opened The RSM Classic in Sea Island, Ga. with a course-record 61. He never let up after that, becoming the first PGA Tour rookie since Tim Herron in 1996 to win wire-to-wire.

“It was my tournament from the start and I didn’t want to let it go,” said Hughes. “Anything less than a win in that playoff was going to be disappointing.”

The victory came exactly a month after Hughes and longtime girlfriend, Jenna Shaw got married at a picturesque plantation in Charlotte, N.C.

Shaw was on hand for the win, as was Hughes’ mother Sandra, who was emotional as Hughes cemented his victory.

“She was pretty much in tears the entire Monday morning,” Hughes said.

Hughes’ longtime Kent State and Golf Canada teammate Taylor Pendrith drove more than three hours from his home outside Charleston, S.C. to see Hughes pull off the victory.

“I figured there wasn’t going to be a whole lot of people out there, and cold. Definitely advantage Mackenzie,” Pendrith said. “They say us Canadians play better in the cold, and he’s used to it. He grew up in it. It was the perfect setting for him to win.”

Fellow Canadian professional golfers Corey Conners and Albin Choi, along with Pendrith, were Hughes’ groomsmen in October. The trio made a pact that if any of them won on a professional tour this year the group would go to Las Vegas to celebrate.

“Now that I’ve won on the PGA Tour it’s a must that it happens,” Hughes said. “I told the boys that, and that’s something I want to follow through on. It’s just something I need to do with them and cap off the year. I’ve been through a lot with them. It’s been a crazy and amazing year.”

It was Conners’ schedule that was originally holding back the group from going on the trip, but what he lacks in logistical planning, he’ll make up for in advice at Augusta National. He played the Masters in 2015 after finishing runner-up at the 2014 U.S. Amateur.

“I know he’s going to have an incredible week,” Conners said. “It’s the best golf tournament in the world at the best venue in the world.

“I couldn’t be more excited for Mackenzie. He asked a lot about it, and he’s dreamt a lot about it. I’m excited for him to realize that dream like I did.”

Mackenzie Hughes (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Mackenzie Hughes holed an 18-foot par putt from off the green Monday morning to win the RSM Classic and become the first rookie in 20 years to go wire-to-wire for his first PGA Tour victory.

The Team Canada Young Pro Squad member calmed his nerves and came up clutch in chilly conditions at Sea Island. He was the only player of the four remaining in the playoff who was never on the green at the par-3 17th hole until his ball was in the cup.

“I made the putt of my life right there,” Hughes said.

All four players who had to return for the third extra playoff hole missed the green. Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., was in the toughest spot with a pitch up the slope to a green that ran quickly away from him. It stopped a few feet short of the green and he figured he had to make it to stay in the playoff.

He poured it in for par, slamming his fist, more out of relief than celebration.

Then, he watched Blayne Barber, Henrik Norlander and Camilo Villegas each miss par putts from 10 feet or closer.

“As each guy went down, it was that much more real,” Hughes said.

Hughes was standing off the green when Villegas missed. He dropped the putter from his hand, knocked the cap off his head and rubbed his hand over his head in disbelief. The 25-year-old Canadian is headed to Hawaii a week earlier next year, and more important, he’s in the Masters.

Mackenzie Hughes (Justin Heiman/ Getty Images)

Billy Horschel was eliminated from the five-man playoff on the first extra hole Sunday night when he narrowly missed a birdie putt, then shockingly missed a 2-foot putt. On the second playoff hole at the 18th, Hughes had a 10-foot putt for the win in the dark and didn’t see that it turned away slightly to the left.

He earned some redemption Monday morning, though it sure didn’t look that way when he didn’t reach the green with his pitch.

The last rookie to go wire-to-wire for his first win was Tim Herron at the 1996 Honda Classic when he opened with a 62 at TPC Eagle Trace. Hughes started this week with a 61, and he led after every round until he was posing with tournament host Davis Love III with the trophy.

Hughes, who closed with a 69 and finished at 17-under 265, capped a memorable fall season.

He began his rookie season by playing the final two rounds with Phil Mickelson, which helped him deal with the distractions of a large gallery. In his only week off, he and his longtime girlfriend from Kent State, Jenna, were married. They plan a honeymoon in the off-season, and now he gets to plan a schedule that includes Kapalua, Augusta National and the PGA Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he lives.

Hughes earned US$1.08 million and a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. He was the second rookie to win during the fall start to the season. Cody Gribble won in Mississippi, though that was against a World Golf Championship event in China.

Villegas and Norlander do not have full PGA Tour cards, and a victory would have changed that. Villegas got into the field as a past champion, while Norlander has no PGA Tour status and received a sponsor’s exemption.

Villegas had made every big putt, from his birdies on the 16th and 17th in regulation to his 6-foot par putt on the 72nd hole to join the playoff, and another tough 4-foot putt in the dark Sunday night to stay alive. He missed from 7 feet Monday.

“I just pushed it a tiny bit,” Villegas. “But once again, I’m proud of myself. We want to win a golf tournament, so you go with a little bittersweet, but you’ve got to look at the positive and keep moving forward.”

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— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) November 21, 2016

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The largest PGA Tour playoff of the year at the RSM Classic didn’t finish before darkness Sunday, and it won’t include Billy Horschel when it resumes.

Horschel, the highest-ranked player in the five-man playoff at Sea Island, burned the edge of the cup with his birdie putt at No. 18 on the first playoff hole. Stepping over a routine tap-in from 2 feet, he blocked it to the right and was eliminated.

“I took my time and just blocked it,” Horschel said.

Mackenzie Hughes, the Canadian trying to become the first rookie to go wire-to-wire in 20 years, had a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 18 on the second extra hole and it turned away to the left. It already was plenty dark, and there was no chance to play another hole.

He can’t believe it didn’t fall.#QuickHits https://t.co/enaRFkf6VV

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 20, 2016

Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., Blayne Barber, Camilo Villegas and Henrik Norlander were to return at 8 a.m. on Monday to finish the final PGA Tour event of the year.

So much is at stake for all of them, starting with a trip to the Masters.

Norlander and Villegas don’t have full status on the PGA Tour this year – Norlander received a sponsor’s exemption – and a victory would take care of that. Hughes began his rookie season just six weeks ago and has a honeymoon planned in the off-season. Barber is going for his first PGA Tour victory.

All of them had their chances, and none had any real regrets over the final hour.

Hughes narrowly missed birdie chances on the 15th and 16th holes, but holed a 5-foot par putt on the 18th in regulation for a 1-under 69 to join the playoff.

Norlander, who closed with a 65, stuffed a 9-iron into 3 feet on the 18th in regulation and was the first to reach 17-under 265. Barber ran off back-to-back birdies on the back nine, and he had a 12-foot birdie attempt at the 18th that he missed on the low side. He shot a 66.

Villegas played the best coming down the stretch. Two shots behind with three to play, the Colombian hit an aggressive drive on the par-4 16th that set up wedge for a short birdie, then holed an 18-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-3 17th to tie for the lead. He finished with a 6-foot par on the 18th for a 68.

It was the largest playoff on the PGA Tour since Alex Cejka won a five-man playoff in Puerto Rico in 2015.

No one else was close to joining the playoff. Jim Furyk had a 67 and was part of a large group at 14-under 268. That included C.T. Pan of Taiwan, who faced a longer day than even the players who had to return Monday.

Pan left after the tournament to catch a flight from Savannah to New York, then New York to Hong Kong, and then a connection to Melbourne where he was to arrive Tuesday night in Australia for the World Cup.

Full round highlights:

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – One bad decision cost Mackenzie Hughes his three-shot lead in the RSM Classic.

Remarkable poise and a pure putting stroke for the Canadian rookie left him one round away from a wire-to-wire victory at Sea Island.

Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., bounced back from his blunder with a tough par save, three birdies and a 2-under 68 that gave him a one-shot lead over Billy Horschel, Camilo Villegas and C.T. Pan going into the final round expected to feature more strong wind.

“Everyone’s going to be fighting the same kind of nerves trying to win, and hopefully, I’ll be on top again tomorrow,” Hughes said.

Hughes was sailing along on the Seaside course Saturday, bogey-free for the first 46 holes of the tournament, when he tried to do too much from an awkward lie in a fairway bunker on the 11th hole instead of pitching back to the fairway. His feet slipped in the sand on his first shot, and it stayed in the bunker in a worse lie. The next shot was so fat it only went about 40 yards into another bunker. And then he three-putted from 50 feet and his lead had vanished.

“It was almost like I had been punched in the face there, making a triple after everything seemed to be going pretty smoothly,” Hughes said.

He kept enough of senses to remind himself that he was still tied for the lead in only his fifth event of his rookie season, and there was plenty of golf left. What followed was his most important shot of the week, a super pitch up a steep slope to a back pin to tap-in range to save par, and then three birdies over the next four holes.

“That pitch on 12 was probably my shot of the day,” he said. “Because if I follow that up with a bogey, the wheels start to come off even more.”

Hughes was at 16-under 196.

Horschel, who hasn’t won since the Tour Championship two years ago when he captured the FedEx Cup, holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole of the Seaside course at Sea Island for a 65. Villegas overcame a double bogey early in his round and finished with four straight birdies for a 64.

Joining them at 15-under 197 was another PGA Tour rookie, Pan of Taiwan. He shot a 67 playing in the final group.

More than costing Hughes a big lead, that triple bogey made the final round of the year on the PGA Tour far more bunched than it needed to be. Ten players were within four shots of the lead, a group that included Charles Howell III (13-under 199) and Stewart Cink (12-under 200).

Horschel has slipped to No. 76 in the world since his big FedEx Cup run in 2014. He has worked hard on his short game and feels that turning around, and he believes the windy conditions after two days of calm might have helped someone who hits the ball as crisply as he does.

He thinks experience will play a role, too.

“There’s some young guys up there on the leaderboard that haven’t been in … obviously, they’ve won other times, but out on the PGA Tour it’s a little bit different. But it all depends on what kind of conditions we get. I would to have similar conditions today because I think the better player shows up in these conditions.”

Villegas also has gone two years without a victory, and he lost his card this year and only got into the tournament as a past champion. One week could change everything.

“Let me tell you something, it’s 18 more holes of golf. I’m feeling good,” Villegas said. “I’ve been a lot more comfortable than I have been. I think it’s all about having the mind in the right place. My shots when I’m calm out there are pretty good and hopefully we can accomplish that tomorrow. I think the leaderboard is jam-packed as always. We’re playing the PGA Tour, the best players in the world, but I’ve got to wake up tomorrow believing I can do it.”

Pan, a former No. 1 amateur when he was at Washington, went from four shots behind to a one-shot lead in two holes when he rolled in a pair of birdies and Hughes made a mess of the 11th hole. Pan dropped a shot on the next hole with a wild tee shot that the wind made look worse, but he was never out of position the rest of the way.

Hughes, who got married in his only week off this fall, has led at Sea Island from his opening 61 on the Seaside course. He will try to join Cody Gribble as PGA Tour rookies to win in the fall portion of the season, with one difference. This victory earns a spot in the Masters.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Five tournaments into his rookie season on the PGA Tour, Mackenzie Hughes has the 36-hole lead at Sea Island and expects a few nerves.

That weekend he spent with Phil Mickelson should at least help.

The 25-year-old from Dundas, Ont., had another bogey-free round Friday and took care of the par 5s on the Plantation Course for a 5-under 67, giving him a two-shot lead over C.T. Pan going into the weekend of the RSM Classic, the final PGA Tour event of the year.

Hughes at was at 14-under 128.

Pan also is a rookie, and perhaps they can take inspiration from rookie Cody Gribble winning in Mississippi three weeks ago. Hughes and Pan both spent last year on the Web.com Tour to earn their cards.

“There’s going to be nerves tomorrow, and I’m going to be a little jittery starting out, but that’s completely natural,” Hughes said. “But I just think guys come off the Web.com Tour that … for example, I won in Missouri and I feel like the win translates to being able to win out here. The margin is so small that the things I did on that weekend to win that tournament are the same things I’ll have to do Saturday and Sunday.”

Hughes started his rookie season in the Safeway Open, made the cut and wound up in the same group with Mickelson, who attracted the largest gallery.

“The atmosphere was a dream start for me,” Hughes said. “We played the first day, and I had a nine-footer on 19 for par to make par and stay tied with him. I was so pumped that I made it because I got one more round out of it. He was a super nice guy, really welcoming. It was a nice way to break yourself in.”

There wasn’t much of a gallery at Sea Island on another pristine day for scoring, so ideal that the cut came at 5-under par. That probably won’t change for the weekend, especially with tournament host Davis Love III and Sea Island neighbours Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar among those missing the cut.

Even so, it was an experience that could come in handy Hughes.

“Being with him for two days and with his galleries and all the distractions going on there, that’s probably as good a preparation as you would have for tomorrow and Sunday,” Hughes said. “There was so much learning going on that weekend that I’ll be able to apply.”

It was the lowest cut on the PGA Tour since 5 under at the 2015 Zurich Classic.

Hughes opened with a 9-under 61 on the Seaside course at Sea Island, while he didn’t hit the ball as cleanly over at Plantation, he had few complaints. He picked up three of his birdies at the par 5s, even on the 18th when he found a fairway bunker off the tee and had to lay up. He hit wedge to eight feet and made the putt.

“Today was definitely a little more work,” Hughes said, though he quickly added that 67 was “no slouch of a score and I would take two more of those in a heartbeat.”

Hughes and Pan, who shot a 64 at Seaside, played together on the Canadian Tour two years ago, and then all last year on the Web.com Tour. Pan had a brief stay atop the world amateur ranking in 2013 when he won eight times at Washington, and he made the cut as an amateur at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.

They will be joined in the final group by Hudson Swafford, who lives at Sea Island and shot a 67 on the Plantation. Swafford was three shots behind, along with Chad Campbell, Chesson Hadley and Blayne Barber.

“It should be fun,” Pan said. “We played on the Canadian tour last year, and then we played the Web.com Tour this year and now we are both on the PGA Tour. So it’s exciting to see both of us play well out there, because it’s a dream come true for both of us.”

That much was clear when Hughes came into the media centre for an interview. He left his seat, walked to the back of the room and handed his phone to his mother to take a picture. It was that kind of moment for him.

Even with a two-shot lead, however, the conditions have been such that low scores are available to anyone at any time. Twenty-five players were separated by just five shots with two more rounds to play.

That group includes Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink. Four shots behind was Jonathan Byrd, a five-time PGA Tour winner who spent last year on the Web.com Tour and still doesn’t have full status. He is playing this week on a sponsor’s exemption and wants to make the most out of limited chances like this.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Mackenzie Hughes, the Canadian rookie on the PGA Tour, had thoughts of a sub-60 round on a perfect day for scoring in the RSM Classic on Thursday.

The 25-year-old from Dundas, Ont., wound up with a 61 at Sea Island for a one-shot lead after the first round.

Here are a few highlights from his round.

A great start to the week got even better when Stewart Cink opened with a career-low 62. His wife, Lisa, walked all 18 holes.

Cink stepped away from the PGA Tour in May when his wife was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. After nine rounds of chemotherapy, she received what Cink said was a good report from doctors in Houston on Monday.

Cink says he’s made some changes in his attitude on the course to make golf only part of his life.

More highlights from round 1.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The laser machines that have been tracing shots at PGA Tour events for more than a decade were getting old and needed to be replaced. That led tour officials to ask if there was a better method to collect data.

The answer was found in sophisticated video cameras.

It started with small cameras attached to poles on the sides of three greens at PGA Tour events during a testing phase toward the end of last season. As 2016 ends this week, cameras are being used on six greens at Sea Island for the RSM Classic.

“It would be easy to buy new lasers,” said Steve Evans, the tour’s senior vice-president of information systems. “But would there be another way to collect data? And could we be collecting more than we’re collecting? What about using video cameras to translate what comes through video into data?”

ShotLink involves mapping golf courses and using lasers to show where each shot lands. That information generally allows for distance (how far off the tee, how close to the hole) and direction (fairway, rough, bunkers, greens).

The cameras bring motion into play, particularly with putting. It will allow for statistics on the percentage of putts that break left-to-right or right-to-left, whether the putt is downhill or uphill.

“From a data perspective, we can learn if uphill is harder or downhill is easier,” Evans said.

Evans said the cameras also can correct flaws with projected putting paths because it eliminates the assumption on how hard the ball must be struck.

“With this system, let’s say it’s a 30-foot putt. We’ll know a foot off the putter how fast the ball is moving,” Evans said. “It’s gives us a much more accurate projection on where it will end.”

With the cameras installed only at the green, there are some limitations. The cameras can pick up the golf ball only as it approaches the green. Evans said if it proves worthwhile, cameras could be installed from the tees and along the fairways.

By tracking a ball in motion instead of where it comes to a rest, statistics would be available showing how much a ball rolls once it’s on the green. That would relate to the trajectory of the ball in its approach.

Evans said digital and broadcast media are likely to get the most of the information, along with publications that go heavy on analytics. It figures to be useful for players, too, allowing them to spot tendencies in their games.

“All that feedback and analysis on the golf course is nice to have,” Rickie Fowler said. “We look at statistics and stuff a lot more. Joe (Skovron), my caddie, does it for feedback on areas that we may have been working on to see the improvement and then what areas need improvement. Some guys use it more than others.”

The tour hopes to have it in place in the first part of 2017, at which point Evans said it will work with broadcast partners and how to make the best use of the data.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Olympic gold and silver medalists Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson are among the first to sign up for the PGA Tour’s first team event since 1981.

The tour announced Monday that the Zurich Classic outside New Orleans will be feature 80 two-man teams and both players will receive credit for an official victory. It’s the first official team event since the Walt Disney World Team Championship in 1981.

Rickie Fowler and Jason Day, the world’s No. 1 player, also announced plans to compete as a team.

The Zurich Classic is April 27-30 at the TPC Louisiana. It will feature two rounds of fourballs and two rounds of foursomes. Players can pick their partners, provided they have PGA Tour status or receive a sponsor’s exemption.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Pat Perez won the OHL Classic at Mayakoba on Sunday in his third start since returning from shoulder surgery.

Perez closed with a 4-under 67 for a two-stroke victory over third-round leader Gary Woodland on the Greg Norman-designed El Camaleon course. Perez finished at 21-under 263.

“I had an attitude that I can’t really repeat, but I had a lot of thoughts going on,” Perez said. “The main one was I wanted to stay aggressive. I knew if I just stayed aggressive I was seeing the line great on the putting green. … This type of grass and these greens, if you can get it on line you can make them.

“I just saw the line, I thought I could make them all and I just had a confidence. I had an entirely different attitude than I would have had a few years ago. It was definitely a different win than last time. Last time, I was a little more scared coming down the stretch. I didn’t really believe and this and that. This time, I really had like this calmness, kind of like a madness to get it done.”

Perez had surgery on his shoulder in February. He returned with a tie for 33rd in Malaysia, and tied for seventh last week in Las Vegas.

“When you hit 40 and then you have surgery, it’s like ‘Oh, God, you know, what are we going to do?”’ Perez said. “I had sleepless nights, I had a lot of sleepless nights wondering, ‘What are we going to do? How are we going to do this? What’s going to happen here? What would happen here? Because all you do is sit around and think. That’s all you have time is to sit around. You’re just sitting in a sling doing nothing and you can’t hit balls for five months. I had a lot of time to think about a lot of things.”

Perez shot a 62 on Saturday to pull within a stroke of Woodland. The 40-year-old former Arizona State player birdied five of the first eight holes and had a bogey on the par-4 12th.

“In a lot of ways, when you win you’ve got to have a lot of things go your way,” Perez said. “You’ve got to make a lot of putts, you need some help from other players. It’s everything. It’s so hard to win. But I just had this different look about it this week and I’ll hopefully carry that through for a while.”

He also won the 2009 Bob Hope Classic.

“I guess I’m just one of those late-maturers,” Perez said. “I know I was sort of a punk and all that early on, but I think I learned a lot about myself in the last nine, 10 months and it just paid off this week. I couldn’t be more excited about what’s going on.”

Woodland birdied the final two holes for a 70.

Russell Knox was third at 18-under after a 66.

“I wasn’t all that comfortable out there.” Knox said. “This course kind of makes you put the steer on sometimes, but I made seven birdies. A couple mistakes, but overall starting the day I would have taken 66.”

Chez Reavie (67), Kevin Streelman (65) and Scott Piercy (70) were 17 under.

Adam Hadwin (67) of Abbotsford, B.C., finished in a tie for 10th at 14-under par, while Nick Taylor (70), also from Abbotsford, was tied for 15th at 12 under.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Gary Woodland took a one-stroke lead into the final round of the PGA Tour’s OHL Classic at Mayakoba after dropping two strokes on the par-3 15th Saturday.

Woodland finished with a 5-under 66 to reach 18-under 195 on Mayakoba’s Greg Norman-designed El Camaleon course. He won the last of his two tour titles in 2013.

“I’ve been there. I’ve been in the position a lot the last couple years. I’m excited about my game, I’m going to rely on my game and trust it and go out and have fun. … I’m very comfortable with where my golf swing is and I’m going to rely on it and run it out.”

Woodland birdied the first seven odd-number holes, then ended the string with the double bogey on 15 when his tee shot went long into the hazard. He played the first 51 holes without a bogey.

“I’m happy. I mean, I played great today. Drove the ball exceptionally well, controlled my distances to the green, and I rolled it well,” Woodland said. “It’s hard to argue with that, hard to be upset with that. I hit a good shot on 15. I just hit it long.”

Married last month, Woodland took last week off and worked with instructor Butch Harmon after opening the new season in Malaysia and China.

Pat Perez was second after a 62. He played the front nine in 7-under 29, making an eagle on the par-5 fifth. The one-time tour winner recently returned from shoulder surgery.

“I was real comfortable,” Perez said. “I woke up and I just felt good. I was comfortable on the range. I’ve just been on this different attitude in the last couple weeks where I just try to stay aggressive and try to think of the right shot and the good shot and not worry about what happens. It’s really worked. I’ve been working on that the last nine months since I got hurt.”

Scott Piercy was 16 under after a 66, Seamus Power (64) was 15 under, and Webb Simpson (69) followed at 14 under.

Defending champion Graeme McDowell was 8 under after his second straight 65. He opened with a 75.