Later this afternoon, the LPGA will announce a new stop for 2012 in Kitchener-Waterloo. The event, which will reportedly have Manulife Insurance as the title sponsor, is slated to be held at Grey Silo, which should be interesting considering the clubhouse and the range. It might not be the best course for viewing either. I'll wait for the details on Tuesday before commenting further on those situations.The course is owned by the City of Waterloo and managed by Golf North. It's good news that the LPGA is coming to Canada for a second stop - heck, it's good it's going anywhere for a second stop! - and good news for golf fans in the Southwestern Ontario region. One of the best parts about the LPGA Tour is that when it has an event, there's a good chance every big name will show up. That's because there aren't that many events to begin with. And this will be the second big event in the country not run by Golf Canada, which hosts both the men's and women's Opens. The Montreal Championship Champions Tour event, underway this week, is the other.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Rory's story not over yet
Is anyone else a little antsy? Is anyone kinda anxious about this afternoon? It seems everyone has already given the US Open trophy to Rory McIlroy, started the engraving and planned the victory parade. I remember feeling the same way on Sunday morning at Augusta earlier this year, thinking there was no way this kid could lose based on his play of the first three rounds. But as Yogi Berra liked to say, it ain't over 'til it's over. And it seems that Rory is the one trying to bring some sense to this coronation."Until you do these things, they don't mean anything," he said after Saturday's 68 that pushed him to a record-low 54-hole total of 199. While Rory isn't likely to get the others in the field to roll over and concede anything just yet, a number of them told me yesterday that they'll be cheering for him. After what happened to him at Augusta was painful, they all say. But how he handled it was perhaps even more telling. He was full of grace and dignity, and stopped to talk to the press, no matter how humiliated he felt. He wasn't in a snit more fitting for a five-year-old as another former US Open champion was that day. Everyone likes Rory, it seems. It's hard to find anyone to say a bad thing about him. Especially the fans, who seem to have fallen for the mop-headed 22-year-old from - of all places - Holywood, Northern Ireland. All around Congressional they were chanting his name and giving him standing ovations. And he acknowledged them. Quitely, with a smile. The players have a very good sense that history is being made here and those who know Rory well, aren't surprised. But they are a little fearful for the repercussions of such a thrashing of a US Open golf course, if only in jest. "Rory is a good player," said Lee Westwood. "When he plays well, he's capable of shooting low scores. So I guess we're all improving. If they make the golf courses longer, it will be 8,000 yards next year. We have Rory to thank for that."But he still has to get it done on Sunday, still has to close the deal. Eight shots is a lot. But then again, so was four at Augusta. No one wants to see another anguishing disaster. He's too nice a guy for that.
Hadwin enjoying the ride
Adam Hadwin is going to think I'm some kind of bad-luck charm. Yesterday, I managed to catch up to the Abbotsford, B.C., native as he hit the ninth hole at Congressional Country Club, playing his first round in the U.S. Open. At that point, he'd been going along quite nicely but his tee shot strayed to the right and found some of the deep rough. Wisely, he tried to chunk it out to the fairway to minimize the damage but with the narrow fairways here, the ball scooted across to the rough on the other side of the hole. From here, he tried to get it down to the lay-up area on this par 5, but left that in the rough. His pitch missed the green, his first chip on was chunky and two putts later, he had a seven. That's the type of course in front of the players this week. It's not ridiculous, as U.S. Open courses in the past have been, but don't miss by too much (hello Phil Mickelson) or you'll pay the price. Thankfully for Hadwin, the personable Canadian Tour player, that was about the worst of his holes. In fact, he actually hit the ball beautifully for most of his day and if his putter had warmed up at all, it could have been quite the day. The score of four over was still impressive."I had a lot of looks at birdies today," he said. "And good looks. . . 20-footers uphill all day."Hadwin admitted there were nerves at the start of his round and who can blame him? This is his first major championship after all. But he turned those butterflies into adrenaline, launching some impressive drives that were soaring well past the 300 yard mark. And apparently it lasted all day. On the par-4 18th, a 523-yard monster, Hadwin hit driver, nine-iron. Wow. "The way I'm hitting it, I'll be here for the weekend," Hadwin said, showing a great deal of confidence without a drop of cockiness. That, of course will be decided Friday in the second round, which is certain to be tougher than his opening day. The other Canadians were on the opposite side of the draw and finished their rounds as the sun was starting to set, having played through some rain earlier. Wes Heffernan equaled Hadwin's four over score, with bogeys on the last two holes. Poor Wes, the quiet Calgarian, can't seem to get any respect from the USGA. In his first spin in the US Open back in 2001, the leaderboards had his name as Hefferman on several occasions. This time, the association used a photo of some unknown individual in Heffernan's spot in the media guide.Jon Mills came in at five over after a four-over back nine. Despite playing well coming into Congressional, he didn't sound all the confident in the days leading up to the start. We'll see if he and the other two can improve that around on Friday and make the cut.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Tiger to stay on the shelf
These are words you never thought you'd hear Tiger Woods say:"All the years of playing when my knee wasn't very good and playing through it, you know, unfortunately I broke my leg and still played. That's not exactly smart. I'm going to do it differently this time. I am going to come back when I'm 100 percent ready, which is different for me."Yup, Tiger Woods, the guy who rarely listens to anyone save himself, the guy who played (and won) a U.S. Open on a broken leg against doctor's orders, who tried to play at the Players in April when medical experts suggested he wasn't ready, is going to sit back and take his time. For once. That's kind of like trying to get a six-year-old who's just eaten three bowls of sugar to sit still. Tiger Woods, you see, is stubborn. He doesn't like being told what to do or that he can't do something. Most of the time, he's made out OK, such as that US Open in 2008 when he hobbled around and still beat Rocco Mediate in a playoff. And I'm sure Steve Williams can give you a lengthy list of occasions when Tiger disregarded his advice and elected to play a low percentage shot . . . only to see it come off. But it appears that Woods is finally going to listen to the experts and that likely means we won't see him at Royal St. George's for the Open Championship. Possibly even the PGA Championship."In retrospect, I probably came back too early at the Players," Woods stated at the presser at the AT+T event, which he hosts. "I pushed it too hard and hurt myself. I'm being smarter this time."So two revelations there, one stated one not. The first, stated, is that Woods aggravated the injury he suffered at the Masters during his ill-advised Players nine and second, unstated is that Woods isn't likely to be at Royal St. George's for the British Open. With only two weeks before the first tee off and him not having taken a full swing since May 12 when he walked off TPC Sawgrass after nine holes, the timing just doesn't work to reappear at the British. Woods also admitted had he not attempted to play at the Players, he likely would be ready now. The longer Woods sits on the sidelines, the more he becomes pushed to the back burner. Rory McIlory's performance at the U.S. Open made people forget all about Tiger, for a week anyway. But as Woods said, he's a long way from done just yet. "Yeah, I'm 35, I'm not 65," stated Woods, who admitted to being impressed by the Ulsterman's performance. "I've still got some years ahead of me."For now, we'll have to take him at his word. Until Woods gets healthy, which seems as if it will be a while, and gets back on the course and has a chance to work on his swing, that's all we have.
MMO: Will Hadwin DQ hurt Open chances?
Monday Morning Observer: Fireworks hangover edition
* The best win of the weekend had to be Thomas Levet's win at his national championship, the French Open. Levet is an extremely likeable fellow and to see the emotion flow out after he was able, at long last, to earn his country's open was wonderful. You can watch the highlights here.
* John Cook's win at the Montreal Championship gives him a rare double. He won the Canadian Open back in 1983, defeating Johnny Miller in a six-hole playoff. (By the way, Miller once told me that was the toughest loss of his career; the Canadian Open was one tournament he really wanted to win.) Still tough to beat Mark Calcavecchia's record of winning two different PGA Tour events in Canada, both in Vancouver. He won the Air Canada Championship and the RBC Canadian Open when it was last at Shaughnessy.
* Adam Hadwin's DQ from last week's ATB Financial Classic may turn out to be quite costly. The Abbotsford, B.C., native, who signed an incorrect scorecard last week, fell to seventh on the Order of Merit, roughly $8,000 back of fifth place. The top five golfers after the Canadian Tour Players Cup get into the RBC Canadian Open, meaning there are just two events left to secure the spot. However, you'd like to think that Hadwin would get a spot even if it didn't come through the Canadian Tour's list.
* Great to see Mike Weir make a cut and play on the weekend for the first time since January. Hopefully it's a sign of progress, but making the cut at one tournament is no more a sign that his game is back than missing the cut at the previous 11 is a sign that he's washed up. Still it has to be good mentally for the guy.
* Bubba Watson may have ruffled French feathers with some of his comments after missing the cut at the French Open, but at least he had the decency to apologize after the fact. Here's a Tweet he sent out after getting back: I played bad, not the fans or the tournaments fault, I hit the shots. He'll get to experience more of the European tournaments as he plays the British Open, Scandinavian Masters and Schuco Open starting next week.
* For the record, the few events I've covered in Europe have been limited to British Opens but they are usually filled with people openly carrying cellular phones and even cameras, blatantly taking pics as well as talking. As Bubba said, it's not necessarily good or bad, just very different than what goes on at PGA Tour events. Although you see more and more folks with cell phones at regular Tour stops now - except, of course, the Masters, where being caught with a cel phone means getting turfed.
* Still, Bubba's lack of knowledge of the world (calling the Arc de Triomphe, "the arch way," and the Eiffel Tower, "that big tower" is pretty surprising. You'd think a guy would have some basic knowledge of the world. The best comment came from manager Chubby Chandler who chalked it up to the American golfer syndrome: "They don't get it because they have everything in America, don't they? Everything over there is easy for them. There's a lot of cash to play for. They don't see any reason why they should play outside America. And then they'll whine about the world rankings. It's a funny one. They're different to us. And yet a lot of our guys who go from here to there are not stimulated by playing in America every week, to go from Boston to New York to Chicago, it doesn't stimulate them. They'd rather be going from Jakarta to Seoul to Valencia, you know what I mean? That's just the way our guys are brought up. The Americans are brought up to think that America is it. They're conditioned to that mindset from a very young age."
Thursday, September 1, 2011
MMO: Champions in Montreal
Monday Morning Observer: 50 and Over Edition* One of the biggest golf events of the year in Canada begins today. Know what it is? The Montreal Championship, a Champions Tour event which was a success in its first year, gets going this week with about a dozen pro-ams and then the tournament itself starting Friday. It’s a bit of a surprise that this doesn’t get more attention than it does but organizers are doing the best they can to expose the tournament to all regions of Canada this year. The field, including defending champion Larry Mize, is very strong with the likes of Tom Kite, Tom Lehman, John Cook, Hale Irwin and Canadians Yvan Beauchemin, Danny Talbot, Rod Spittle and Jim Rutledge all competing. * Let’s see . . . a week ago Rory McIlroy wins the U.S. Open by eight shots and is front-page news. Yesterday, Yani Tseng captures the Wegmans LPGA Championship by a mere 10 strokes and is relegated to the back pages. For Tseng, it was her fourth major and she’s only 22. She deserves to be a bigger story. Oh and if you happen to be walking around Niagara Falls today, you might run into Tseng, who was planning to visit. * Congrats to Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., who won the Kinnear Glencoe Amateur over the weekend. The high-profile event, held at the Glencoe G&CC, annually draws one of the best fields in amateur golf. Hughes, a member of the national team, has had quite a year. He won the Mid-American Conference championship while playing for Kent State and helped lead his school to the team title. * Give credit to RBC and Bill Paul for lining up a stellar field for the RBC Canadian Open next month. It would appear to be one of the strongest since the national championship got saddled with the right-after-the-British Open date. Of course having six of the highest-profile golfers in the game under contract never hurts. Anyone who grumbles that this is appearance money should look around as RBC is only playing the same game every other tournament does in attracting top-flight players. Now with the players in order, will the fans show up? The didn’t last time, at least in large enough numbers to turn a profit. * Speaking of the Open, look for Matt Hill and Nick Taylor to officially receive exemptions into the RBC Canadian Open this week. Tournament director told us on Fairways, our Saturday morning radio program in Toronto, that he’d extend the offer to the two fledgling pros this week. * Congrats to Danny Sahl, who finally won a Canadian Tour event in his 80th try. Sahl, who spent two-and-a-half years as a PGA Tour caddy for Ben Curtis, captured the Syncrude Boreal Open in Fort McMurray. Perseverance pays off. * I spent much of last week out in Whistler and got to see all four courses there (although I didn’t hit a shot) and all are in top shape but could use a break with the weather. Big news there is that the Whistler Golf Club will be re-doing its greens starting later this year. The improvement will allow the course to have better greens earlier (and later) in the year in the mountain environment.
Tiger and the Doc
An interesting day in the courtroom in Buffalo yesterday when Toronto sports doctor Tony Galea pled out to a number of charges connected with transporting drugs, including human growth hormone, into the United States.According to this report in the Globe, with the plea deal, Galea will begin to name names and co-operate with the U.S. authorities, which I'm sure has a number of high-profile athletes sweating. As far as golf goes, the article points directly to Tiger Woods:U.S. District Judge Richard Arcara looked down from his bench, and asked the question that has been on sports fans' lips since Canadian sport physician Anthony Galea was charged last year with smuggling unapproved drugs across the border."Who was receiving these drugs?"Prosecutors had refused to confirm the names of Dr. Galea's patients. But at Wednesday's guilty-plea hearing, Judge Arcara bluntly ordered them to "come out with it."They relented and offered up three big names: Golfer Tiger Woods, San Franciso 49ers linebacker Takeo Spikes and one-time NFL rushing leader Jamal Lewis. Moments earlier, Dr. Galea formally admitted he brought misbranded drugs to the United States and that, over two years, he crossed the border more than 70 times to practise medicine illegally.The inference here might be that Tiger received some sort of illegal drug, but later in the same story, Galea's lawyer, Brian Greenspan, singled out Woods as not having received anything other than the Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy, which was to help heal his wounds. By the way, wasn't that treatment done on his Achilles? The one that's now injured again?Another interesting aspect of the story was that Major League Baseball is investigating some of the happenings with its players who saw Galea. We don't know if Tim Finchem has ever talked to Tiger about his visits from the Canadian doctor or if he is simply taking Tiger's word that nothing untoward happened. Galea will be charged in October.
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