Canadians hopful for RBC Canadian Open victory
Canadian golfers are hopeful that one of their own can claim the title after this week’s RBC Canadian Open wraps up in Etobicoke Ontario. There are at least a dozen Canadians entered in the competition, with some of the high profile ones including Stephen Ames and Mike Weir- winner of the 2003 Masters. Whatever name is engraved on the Open trophy come Sunday afternoon, the hope is that it will be a Canadian one.
This year the tournament will be held at the St George’s Golf and Country Club and the purse is $5.1 million U.S. In the past the competition has been held at Glen Abbey in Oakville Ontario just west of Toronto. The St George course is ranked amongst the top three private Canadian golf courses, and has hosted the Canadian Open four times: 1933, 1949, 1960 and 1968. Ames believes the switch in location could be a good thing for Canadian contenders.
“It’s not the typical Glen Abbey, which everybody knows. It’s new for everybody on the PGA Tour, so it might be better for us Canadians, because a lot of us have played St. George’s,” said Calgary’s Ames, who added “absolutely, it suits my game” of the familiar St. George’s course.
The tournament begins on Thursday, and golfers must be especially sharp mentally before facing the course,
“It’s the kind of course you have to shape it off the tee and think about what club you want to hit. And then going into the greens, you can’t attack them because of the location of the pins. It could be a really, really good test for us,” said Ames.
The pressure to win is doubled for Canadians, who haven’t won the event since British Columbia’s Pat Fletcher did in 1954. Ames admitted the RBC sponsor requires that golfers also do a lot of entertaining between rounds, which is time consuming and physically draining.
Ames has recorded just one top 10 finish, and admitted he has had an up-and-down season. His most recent win was in March at the Transitions Championship, pocketing $187,650. Ames also admits being mentally strained.
“But physically, I feel very good about my golf swing. The only thing that’s still lagging behind a little bit is the mind.”
A duel citizen of Trinidad/Tobago and Canada, Ames has four PGA Tour wins, three on the European Tour and one on the Nationwide. His best finish was fifth place at the 1997 British Open, and ten years later Ames saw himself inside the top 25. His most recent win was at the 2009 Children’s Miracle Network Classic after beating out George McNeil and Justin Leonard in a three-way playoff.
Weir, the Canadian face of golf is in 112th place in the Golf World Rankings. Weir spent 100 weeks in the top 10 between 2001 and 2005, and won the 2003 Masters Tournament at Augusta. He was the first Canadian male to achieve this honour, and was the second left handed golfer to win any of the four PGA majors. Bob Charles, another lefty, won the British Open 40 years earlier. Like Phil Mickelson, Weir is right handed but plays golf with his left hand.
Weir has eight PGA Tour wins in total. In 2003 he tied for third place at the U.S. Open and was bumped up to third in the world rankings, his highest ranking. The same year Weir won the Lou Marsh Trophy for outstanding Canadian athlete f the year. He maintained his top 10 position until 2004. Throughout the past 10 years, Weir has been a consistent top 10 finisher.
The heavy presence of Canadian golfers at this event is something Ames hopes will inspire young Canadians:
“For a country with a lot of ability in a lot of the kids, I think we should have five to 10 players on tour, especially when we are neighbours with the biggest nation for golfers.”
If Canadian’s get a taste of the limelight this week perhaps it will further motivate and inspire up and coming talent. Only time will tell.
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