No, Tiger Woods isn’t playing this week… meaning that we get to see another guy hoist a trophy on Tour this year. However, there is still a good chance Tiger shows up on Sunday in the final group and comes back from a 20-shot deficit to win again. Hey, it could happen!
Last Year
You can’t get away with what Mark Calcavecchia did last year at the Bell Canadian and still expect to walk away with the trophy. Calcavecchia fired a final-round one-over-par 71 and managed only one birdie the entire weekend to break a four-year-winless streak on tour. The weekend was never kind to Calcavecchia, who fired +3 in the final two rounds. If it wasn’t for an earlier 62, Mark never would have hoisted the trophy.
The Course
The Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Ontario, Canada hosted the Canadian Open in 2003, and received rave reviews from every players that entered the tournament.
The tournament course is an ancient 87 years old and measures less than 7,000 yards playing to a par of 70. The course is also one of the 10 founding clubs on the Royal Canadian Golf Association.
The course has added 400 extra yards of distance, but the ease of the layout should make it easy to score if you’re a consistent iron player. Bob Tway won the tournament back in 2003, so you can understand why being a solid iron hitter is at such a premium.
Who’s Hot
Jim Furyk is my pick to win this week. This guy can play consistently only so long before he breaks his winless streak. Furyk has a two T4s, a 3rd, and two second-place finishes in his last six starts. Jim Furyk would be the leading money winner this year if Woods didn’t exist.
Ryan Moore is going to win at some point, and this tournament doesn’t seem like that far of a stretch. He has a T12 and T9 in his last two starts. It’s time to break the winless streak!
Who’s Not
Ian Leggatt might be a Canadian, but that doesn’t mean he has to be playing consistently coming into this week’s tournament. Leggatt has been cut five times in his last nine tournaments. It’s time for Ian to make the most of his trip back home and get back on track.
Hunter Mahan had some high expectations coming into this year. Too bad he hasn’t lived up to those lofty heights. Instead Mahan has a best finish (T22) in his last eight starts. Mahan has also missed four cuts in his last eight events.
TV Coverage Times
All times eastern (ET) unless otherwise noted.
Thu, Sep. 7 ESPN 3 - 6 pm Fri, Sep. 8 ESPN 3 - 6 pm Sat, Sep. 9 ESPN 4 - 6 pm Sun, Sep. 10 ESPN 3 - 6 pm
Ryan Moore also finished in a tie for second at this event last year. He and Furyk are definitely going to be on my fantasy team this week.
This tournament gets overlooked a little, but the field is always solid and the course is always in great shape.
I’d also like to see Mike Weir win it. It would mean a lot to him, and he has been playing great golf the past few months.
I love the Canadian Open, however over the last decade it has lost a lot allure. It used to attract the top player in the world. Past winners have been Nick Price and Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus has been a runner up 7 times.
Now living in Canada we get stuck watching the Canadian coverage of the Open which is awful at best.
As for canadians I beleive Ames will have an advantage over Weir. Weir has the most media pressure of any Canadian player. Weir came close two years ago but has not really been a factor in the Canadain Open.