Canucks Rocket Up Open Leaderboard

After Mike Weir withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open on Friday, a couple of Canadians made charges at the top of the leaderboard.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a four-under 66 while David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., shot 68. Both sit ust two shots off the lead held by Chad Campbell and Michael Thompson at four-under.

At three-under are Paul Goydos and two-time U.S. Open champ Lee Janzen.

Matt McQuillan of Kingston, Ont., started at two-under, but was three-over for the day to finish at one-over, along with Brad Fritsch of Manotick, Ont.

Dustin Risdon of Strathmore, Alta., is the only other Canadian to make the cut. He’s at four-over.

For complete scores, click here.

Weir WDs From Open

Mike Weir has withdrawn from the RBC Canadian Open, citing soreness in the elbow he injured last year.

Weir had shot a four-over 74 in the first round and was four over through six holes, including back-to-back double bogeys, when he pulled out at eight over for the tournament.

Weir added that he didn’t want to take the chance of aggravating an injury that forced him to miss the latter portion of last season.

“It’s disappointing, but I’m not going to go down that road again. I couldn’t open a bottle of water this morning after hitting those shots out of the rough,” said Weir.

“I had a couple this morning, and it was starting to feel like it did last year, so I’m just not going to make that mistake again,” he added.

Weir said he isn’t sure when he will return to play.

Weir’s Challenge Is Confidence, Not Swing

Mike Weir has gone back to the stack and tilt, but his swing may only be part of the problem.

He looked tense in the first round of the RBC Canadian Open at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, where he was four-over and already in danger of missing the cut. Read more

Kris Blanks Unedited

Kris Blanks leads the RBC Canadian Open after going three-under in the first round to lead by one. Afterwrds, he discussed his Canadian wife, who hails the Vancouver area, and why he parted ways with Penticton’s A.J. Eathorne, who now caddies for Brittany Lincicombe on the LPGA Tour. To watch, click below.

Matt McQuillan Unedited

Matt McQuillan of Kingston, Ont., is tied for second place after the first round of the RBC Canadian Open at two-under, just one shot off the lead held by Kris Blanks. Afterwards, McQuillan discussed his recent tie for third at the John Deere Classic, missing cuts on the PGA Tour and how Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver has already proven it’s worthiness against the world’s best players. To read an earlier story  on McQuillan at Sun Media¸ click here. and or watch his post-round interview below.

Round 1, 2011 RBC Canadian Open

It’s crowded at the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the RBC Canadian Open with 11 players within one shot of leader Kris Blanks, who is at three-under.

For all the latest scores from Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, click here.

Tee Trouble Could Loom At Open

The key to success at this week’s RBC Canadian Open, according to defending champ Carl Pettersson and rising Canadian Adam Hadwin, is accuracy off the tee, which they discussed in my latest Sun Media column, which also deals with several other items of note. Read more

Carl Pettersson Unedited

Defending RBC Canadian Open champ Carl Pettersson discusses last year’s win at St. George’s Golf and Country Club, his third round 60 in Toronto, defending at Shaughnessy, where he says accuracy off the tee is going to be an important factor in success.

Adam Hadwin Unedited

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., discusses the challenges ahead at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club as the RBC Canadian Open gets underway, winning the Rivermead Trophy as last year’s low Canadian and the expectations on rising Canadians.

Three Canucks In Open Through Monday Qualifier

Darren Wallace of Langley, B.C., and Brad Fritsch of Manotick, Ont., each shot seven-under 65 in RBC Canadian Open qualifying at Morgan Creek Golf Course on Monday in Surrey, B.C., to earn exemptions into this week’s PGA Tour stop at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver.

Amateur Mitch Evanecz of Red Deer, Alta., and Joshua Habig of San Diego, Calif., also earned spots, outlasting amateur Ryan Terdik of Mt. Pleasant, Ont., in a one-hole playoff after all three competitors posted scores of five-under par 67 through 18 holes.

The playoff, which was contested on Morgan Creek Golf Course’s 17^th hole, saw Terdik’s second shot find the environmental area, which ultimately assured both Evanecz and Habig a spot in the field at Shaughnessy.

After Monday’s Final Qualifier, a total of 17 Canadians will be in the field for the 2011 RBC Canadian Open.

Do Tour Events Encourage Participation?

We’ve got good news and bad news for you this morning on the professional golf front.

Which do you want first?  Okay, let’s get the bad news out of the way. Read more

Open Names Final Field

The final field for this week’s RBC Canadian Open has been set with four more spots to be determined at Monday qualifying at Morgan Creek Golf Course in Surrey, B.C.

For Canadian Tour exemptions, click here. The remainder of the field is in alphabetical order below.

Adams, Blake

*Ames, Stephen

Andrade, Billy

Appleby, Stuart

Atwal, Arjun

Austin, Woody

Baird, Briny

*Baryla, Chris

Beem, Rich

Begay III, Notah

Bertsch, Shane

Bettencourt, Matt

Blanks, Kris

Bowditch, Steven

Bradley, Keegan

Bramlett, Joseph

Brigman, D.J.

*Bunker, Dave (a)

Campbell, Chad

Cantlay, Patrick (a)

Casey, Paul

Cejka, Alex

Chalmers, Greg

Chappell, Kevin

*Choi, Albin (a)

Crane, Ben

Daly, John

Davis, Brian

DiMarco, Chris

Donald, Luke

Driscoll, James

Durant, Joe

Duval, David

Els, Ernie

Estes, Bob

Flesch, Steve

Fowler, Rickie

Frazar, Harrison

Furyk, Jim

Gainey, Tommy

Garrigus, Robert

Gates, Bobby

Gay, Brian

Gillis, Tom

Glover, Lucas

Gomez, Fabian

Gonzales, Andres

Goosen, Retief

Gordon, Scott

Goydos, Paul

Green, Nathan

Gutschewski, Scott

*Hadwin, Adam

*Hearn, David

Herman, Jim

Herron, Tim

Hicks, Justin

*Hill, Matt

Horschel, Billy

*Hutton, Brian

Janzen, Lee

Jobe, Brandt

Jones, Kent

Jones, Matt

Kang, Sunghoon

Kelly, Jerry

Kim, Anthony

Kim, Bio

Kisner, Kevin

Knost, Colt

Kuchar, Matt

Lamely, Derek

Leonard, Justin

Levin, Spencer

Lunde, Bill

Lyle, Jarrod

Mahan, Hunter

Mallinger, John

Martin, Ben

Mathis, David

McCarron, Scott

McGirt, William

McNeill, George

*McQuillan, Matt

Merrick, John

Merritt, Troy

Micheel, Shaun

Miller, Zack

Molder, Bryce

Moore, Ryan

Na, Kevin

O’Hair, Sean

O’Hern, Nick

Ogilvie, Joe

Ogilvy, Geoff

Olazabal, Jose Maria

Oosthuizen, Louis

Panzeri, Joe

Percy, Cameron

Perez, Pat

Pernice, Jr., Tom

Pettersson, Carl

Piercy, Scott

Piller, Martin

Price, Aron

Prugh, Alex

Putnam, Michael

Quinn, Fran

Quinney, Jeff

Reavie, Chez

Renner, Jim

Ridings, Tag

Rocha, Alexandre

Rollins, John

Romero, Andres

Schwartzel, Charl

Smith, Nate

Snedeker, Brandt

Stadler, Kevin

Stallings, Scott

Stankowski, Paul

Steele, Brendan

Streelman, Kevin

Strickler, Will

Stroud, Chris

*Taylor, Nick

Taylor, Vaughn

Teater, Josh

Thatcher, Roland

Thompson, Michael

Tidland, Chris

Trahan, D.J.

Tringale, Cameron

Turnesa, Marc

Tway, Kevin

Van Pelt, Bo

Villegas, Camilo

Wagner, Johnson

Waldorf, Duffy

Walker, Jimmy

Warren, Charles

*Weir, Mike

Wi, Charlie

Willis, Garrett

Wilson, Dean

*Wong, Eugene (a)

ALTERNATES

Letzig, Michael

Weibring, Matt

Pampling, Rod

Lickliter II, Frank

Pride, Dicky

Quigley, Brett

Dawson, Marco

MacKenzie, Will

Hensby, Mark

Gamez, Robert

*denotes Canadian

(a) denotes amateur

DeLaet Confirms He’ll Miss Open

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., has confirmed speculation that he will not be playing in next week’s RBC Canadian Open at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver.

After suffering from a bulging disc last year, DeLaet underwent surgery in January followed by months of therapy and rehab before returning in June, but realized he hadn’t fully healed.

DeLaet says he will continue rehab and strengthening and has set no timetable for his return. If he is unable to return this season, DeLaet has a major medical extension that allows for 26 more starts.

“I am really disappointed my back is not further along and was truly hoping I would be able to play the RBC Canadian Open,” said DeLaet. “My long-term progress was the main consideration when making this decision.”

Olazabel Highlights Latest Open Additions

Next week’s RBC Canadian Open will include 2012 European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabel.

The two-time Masters champ will be joined at Shaughessy Golf and Country Club by Stuart Appleby and David Duval, who also confirmed their attendance recently.

Renowned amateur player Patrick Cantley has also been offered an exemption into the Open.

“A week out from this year’s RBC Canadian Open, we are thrilled with how our field is coming together,” said tournament director Bill Paul. 

“Olazabal, Appleby and Duval have had tremendous careers on the PGA Tour and internationally, while Cantlay is a future star,  an emerging talent that we hope to see for many years at the RBC Canadian Open.”

Open Will Get Vancouver Buzzing Again

The RBC Canadian Open is just a few weeks away from the opening tee shots at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver and there are a lot of people looking forward to it.

I think when RBC signed Ernie Els, Matt Kuchar and others earlier this year, it started quite a buzz around here because before it was even confirmed, everybody figured those names would be here. Those are all pretty good names and a good RBC player presence makes for a great field.

It isn’t that long since the Open was here last, so a lot of people remember from 2005 how much fun it was and how much of a buzz there was in the city.

As for the golf industry, I think it will be good because there will be hard marketing drives in the newspapers and online and on the radio, so golf will be in people’s faces and that will have an effect.

That goes hand-in-hand with the tourism industry, which is also loving the Open. They saw what happened with the Olympics and how much money was generated. This won’t bring in as much as the Olympics, but Vancouver is going to come alive, which means different types of businesses, including golf, will benefit.

After the Olympics last year and the excitement created by the Canucks’ run to the Stanley Cup final, Vancouver is in the spotlight once again and golf is a business that should feel the positive effects.

Open Continues Adding To Its Field

Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas and Geoff Ogilvy have confirmed they will be at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver in a couple of weeks for the RBC Canadian Open.

 “We’re less than two weeks out from the RBC Canadian Open and our field of competitors for Shaughnessy continues to get stronger,” said tournament director Bill Paul. 

“Adding a former Canadian Open champion in Vijay Singh plus PGA Tour stars Camilo Villegas and Geoff Ogilvy only strengthens what I would say is our strongest field in recent history.”

It was also announced that Canadians Adam Hadwin, the low Canadian at last year’s Open, Nick Taylor and Matt Hill have been given exemptions into the event.

“Adam has been playing as well as any Canadian over the past year since finishing as the low Canadian at last year’s Open and Matt and Nick are two of this country’s most promising young golfers,” said Paul. 

“We are hoping that each of these talented competitors can capitalize on a start in our national championship to build momentum in their professional careers,” he added.

Jon Mills of Belleville, Ont., was also offered an exemption to compete at Shaughnessy, but turned it down to focus his efforts on the Nationwide Tour.

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