PGA Tour: Canadian Open (but closed to Canadians?): Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).That's what it seems like anyway. No native-born Canadian has won his home tournament since WWI, not Moe Norman, not Al Balding, not George Knudsen and not Mike Weir. But, arguably, Canada has never had a stronger hand of likely lads than now, led by Adam Hadwin, Graham DeLaet and David Hearn, and now Mackenzie Hughes.
Weir came closest in a 2004 heartbreaker, squandering a lead on the back nine and missing a 25-footer, a ten-footer and a five-footer, all of which would have won before putting his approach into the drink on the third play-off hole and capitulating to Vijay Singh. I've never seen a more reluctant winner. Or a more unconsolable runner up.

2).David Hearn had himself a two stroke lead after 54 holes in 2015 before finishing third, steamrollered by Jason Day, but surely one of Canada's finest will break through soon.

3).I missed Rounds 3 and 4 from Birkdale and am still catching up, but sounds like a remarkable win by Jordan Spieth - who was coming off a freakishly fortunate victory at Hartford. Dustin Johnson has been in the slow lane for long enough, but if he doesn't look in his mirror soon he'll miss Spieth overtaking him on his way back to Number One.

4).And then there's Grayson Murray - I see he's rabbitting on about the young generation picking up so many wins, but from a slightly different perspective, it's really the Americans who are dominating this Tour season. And Europeans, Rahm, Sergio and a half from Jonas Blixt excepted, have been shut out. Spieth and Murray were the 10th and 11th consecutive American winners since Si Woo Kim at The Players. No idea what the longest streak of US wins in the "modern era" might be, but eleven is a lot and you wouldn't bet on that run ending this week at Glen Abbey.

5).Murray has tweeted some utterly gormless garbage recently (not the only one of course), but now he's in the owgr Top 100 and can have no excuses if his career doesn't move forward from here.

6).Another good, but not great, weekend from Seamus Power - this week at the RBC Canadian Open will be pivotal for the seasons of three Irishmen, North & South as Power, Lowry and McDowell all need strong weeks to give themselves a decent chance of making the FedEx Play-Offs. Even money they get shut out, not the end of the world for Lowry & McDool as they're exempt for another year, but Power still has a chance to keep his card so good luck to him.

7).No sign of Kjeldsen and/or Johnston this week and neither of them are in next week's Bridgestone. They should both qualify for the PGA Championship, but realistically it looks like Europe only for them next year. Don't look now, but Europeans will be very poorly represented on next year's PGA Tour, something we kinda predicted with the advent of new Tour qualifying criteria.

8).And so to Glen Abbey, a Jack Nicklaus course in the Toronto suburbs (I prefer Montreal's version of The Suburbs). No-one pretends that Glen Abbey is the best course in Canada, or even in the top dozen, but it's the most commercially successful venue and that's why 75% of recent Canadian Opens have been staged there. Next year's too by the sounds of it. Never mind that its destiny is as a housing development.
No idea of likely winners this week, but if Ireland doesn't supply the winner, I hope Canada does. It's been Canada Dry for too long.

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Harry Diamond, Harry Redknapp, Harry Styles, Harry the Prince - McIlroy needs something to happen and a new caddie has been long overdo. It has been pretty obvious that Rory's problem lies between his ears and a caddie that just bends over, like JP seems to have been doing, will not help Rory going forward.

Hopefully Rory will get more feedback on strategy and club selection than just Harry winks . . . . . .

pedro, Some prolific posting in the past few minutes.

kwinigolfer wrote:
pedro, Some prolific posting in the past few minutes.

I see posts like that, periodically.

Harry Diamond sounds like a James Bond Villain or an unscrupulous private detective.

pedro wrote:Harry Diamond, Harry Redknapp, Harry Styles, Harry the Prince - McIlroy needs something to happen and a new caddie has been long overdo. It has been pretty obvious that Rory's problem lies between his ears and a caddie that just bends over, like JP seems to have been doing, will not help Rory going forward.

Yeah, and the best thing to do is sack a professional caddy and get your mate to do it, who's never done it professionally before. Makes no sense. This guy will be putting the bag in the wrong places on greens, and Rory will have to double check every yardage he's given, pure amature dramatics. Wonder if Harry being dumped has anything to do with it? Either way, bizzare and unprofessional.

kwinigolfer wrote:
pedro, Some prolific posting in the past few minutes.

I like to make my point..

Dunno what happened.

Be_the_ball wrote:

pedro wrote:Harry Diamond, Harry Redknapp, Harry Styles, Harry the Prince - McIlroy needs something to happen and a new caddie has been long overdo. It has been pretty obvious that Rory's problem lies between his ears and a caddie that just bends over, like JP seems to have been doing, will not help Rory going forward.

Yeah, and the best thing to do is sack a professional caddy and get your mate to do it, who's never done it professionally before. Makes no sense. This guy will be putting the bag in the wrong places on greens, and Rory will have to double check every yardage he's given, pure amature dramatics. Wonder if Harry being dumped has anything to do with it? Either way, bizzare and unprofessional.

Well he needs someone who has the guts to speak his mind to him. I dont know Harry Diamond, but it doesn't take a genious to work out the yardages (btw JP f-ked up on that in the Open costing Rory a double didnt he?) and Rory's main problem clearly isn't his yardages. Rory knows Firestone and Quail Hollow well so despite them being big tournaments it's probably not the worst time to change.

Its up there with using a new putter the week of the US Open Pedro, don't kid yourself. I have no problem with Rory making a change, but his mate with no experience? His mind will be on Harry, when it should be on getting the most out of his play. Its amateur, along with Harry.

This PGA Championship field is in serious need of some comprehensive editing, but it suggests McDool and Beef are both in the field for next week.
(Otherwise, it looks as if pga.com hired the europeantour.com wanchors to compile the field . . . . . . )

Would expect/hope to see a more official version tomorrow.

A bit of a shame that Rory will not be fully prepared for a major being played on a course that he plays well on and has won on.

Gary Player just keeps getting more embarrassing.

http://video.golfdigest.com/watch/gary-player-scolds-british-open-fans?mbid=social_twitter

The Norman Wisdom of the golf world....

Was Austin Johnson a caddy before he went on his brothers bag. Maybe if Rory has someone he feels comfortable with, and who will talk to him straight, it will work. And it seems this guy is a golfer who has appeared in amateur events and represented Ireland, so its not like just plucking a mate with no golf knowledge.

McLaren wrote:Gary Player just keeps getting more embarrassing.

http://video.golfdigest.com/watch/gary-player-scolds-british-open-fans?mbid=social_twitter

Why? Are you fat mac? The man is right - and he uses his fame to push an important agenda and in a humorous/different way. Different from the patronising style of many other celebrities.

I just wish that kid had properly punched when invited to do so.

Apple not falling far for the Fehertree:

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/fehertys-son-dies-after-overdose

Too bad, hope the rest of his family don't have the paternal self-destruct button.

Be_the_ball wrote:
Makes no sense. This guy will be putting the bag in the wrong places on greens.

You've got to be joking right? Do you think he's just going to wander on to the green and dump his bag next to the hole? Harry is a keen golfer so will know what to do, more importantly he's a Diamond geezer, which is what Rory needs most.

Carrying a bag and reading a yardage book aren't really skills, the good caddies earn their keep by acting as sounding board, cheer leader, psychiatrist for their boss.

What's a "professional caddie" anyway? Can you do A-level caddying, or some sort of BTEC or vocational qualification?

Diamond on the bag... sounds like a Versace ad.

Here's a sanitised version of the PGA Championship field - it confirms Beef and McDowell are still in. (Lucky lads.)

McLaren wrote:Gary Player just keeps getting more embarrassing.

http://video.golfdigest.com/watch/gary-player-scolds-british-open-fans?mbid=social_twitter

The only embarrassing thing is that he keeps trying to point out how "fit" he is. He doesn't look that fit, just how someone should at his age.

He's spot on about the rest of it though. There were some right fat knackers in there, although some of the others would only be eating that because they were on a day trip and not doing it every day.

I'm surprised you're not on board Mac. Think about the CO2 they're pumping out into the atmosphere by weighing down your bus more than it needs to be. You're darling Patrick Harvie could have a fat tax on people in transport for the extra pollution they cause.

Ultimately Ray, Harry is an amateur golfer and definitely an amateur caddy. I would like Rory to give himself the best chance of maximising his potential, this decision imo hurts his chances certainly in the short term (which as Mac as pointed out is hugely important with a major at Quail hollow coming up). I would have preferred he went with someone thats won majors or at least contended in majors. Look at Spieth on 13 at the Open, imagine that had been Rory with Harry on the bag. Would Harry have been able to contribute to a calm clear headed decision in that situation?

Rory's competing against the best in the world, is he making it easier or harder for himself?

The caddies don't win majors. It's the golfer.

Harry Diamond isn't an amateur caddie if he's getting paid to do the job - he's as much a professional as all the others. If he's new he might not know the protocol around the clubhouse etc, but out on the course where it matters he probably knows McIlroy's game as well as any other potential candidate.

raycastleunited wrote:The caddies don't win majors. It's the golfer.

Harry Diamond isn't an amateur caddie if he's getting paid to do the job - he's as much a professional as all the others. If he's new he might not know the protocol around the clubhouse etc, but out on the course where it matters he probably knows McIlroy's game as well as any other potential candidate.

hmmm, okay.

And it isn't just in the caddy department that we have to ask if Rory is making things easier or harder for himself.

pedro wrote:

McLaren wrote:Gary Player just keeps getting more embarrassing.

http://video.golfdigest.com/watch/gary-player-scolds-british-open-fans?mbid=social_twitter

Why? Are you fat mac? The man is right - and he uses his fame to push an important agenda and in a humorous/different way. Different from the patronising style of many other celebrities.

No he's not. He's an arse. I hate to have to tell him, but the body needs fat and cholesterol. If exercising a lot (which I agree with him on) makes one as much of a pontificating prat as he now appears to be, give me a gut.

raycastleunited wrote:The caddies don't win majors. It's the golfer.

Harry Diamond isn't an amateur caddie if he's getting paid to do the job - he's as much a professional as all the others. If he's new he might not know the protocol around the clubhouse etc, but out on the course where it matters he probably knows McIlroy's game as well as any other potential candidate.

Willett and Rev Spieth don't think that with their constant use of "we".

Ironically I think We-llett should consider his caddie options...

Willet's caddy did that for him. He's now with Branden Grace.

Cant blame him. Must be the caddie equivalent of fleeing north africa in a rubber boat.

No caddies. No maps/charts. 3 balls per round.

NR on 4.