Hughes honors late friend at Honda Classic: 'I was playing for him'

Mackenzie Hughes turned in his best performance on the PGA Tour in nearly a year with a second-place showing at The Honda Classic, doing so with a heavy heart.

"I had a friend of mine who passed away last week in Charlotte, Daniel Meggs, and all week I marked my ball with his initials," the Canadian said. "I just want to tell Daniel, who's up in a better place now, and his family, that I'm really thinking about them. Daniel was an incredible human being, golfer at Wake Forest, and I was playing for him this week."

Meggs was well-known among PGA Tour pros. Last year, Harold Varner III asked Tiger Woods to send Meggs a video wishing him well during his battle with cancer. Tiger did so and won the Masters a few weeks later.

Hughes made a point to acknowledge the passing of his friend at the end of his press conference on Sunday and described how the loss of Meggs impacted his week.

"I always play for myself, but I looked down at my ball every now and then and just reminded myself that it's a blessing to be able to have another round of golf, to continue to play this great game, and I know what he wouldn't give for another chance to play a round of golf or to be with his family," Hughes added.

The 29-year-old entered the week having missed five consecutive cuts with no result better than T-55 in his last 12 tournaments. He made the cut at The Honda Classic on the number and posted back-to-back rounds of 66 to surge up the leaderboard. His weekend total was three better than anyone else.

"My college golf coach, he texted me on Friday night, and he said, 'You know what, the hard part is over.' I missed five cuts, and I always said when the hard part is over you're on the weekend. It kind of loosened me up a little bit."

Hughes gave his playing partner and eventual winner Sungjae Im a run for his money late on Sunday. After a flurry of birdies to get within one, he sank a 53-foot putt on No. 17 to briefly pull level with Im.

"I stole my caddie, and I was like, let's just try and make Sungjae's putt a little harder," Hughes said of his effort on No. 17. "That's a huge bonus that that ball would drop in. I haven't been that excited on the golf course in a long time."

Im, who Hughes referred to as a "machine" due to his level demeanor and ability to play nearly every week on the PGA Tour, wound up making his birdie putt on No. 17.

Hughes was unable to birdie the final hole to force a playoff with Im but did secure the second-most world ranking points since winning the 2016 RSM Classic, his lone victory on the PGA Tour.

The biggest difference between his 2016 win versus his runner-up result at The Honda Classic? Hughes was able to share a special moment after the tournament with his son, Kenton, who was born 11 months after his maiden victory.

Call it a perfect end to an emotional week.