5. The eternal (Canadian) question
Dave Hilson at the Vancouver Sun…“For the 26 Canadians entered in the field at Hamilton Golf and Country Club that is the mission. Win the tournament and become the first Canadian to accomplish the feat since Pat Fletcher did so in 1954.”
- “If you thought that storyline was going to disappear just because the tournament has moved on from Glen Abbey, the course most associated with the national championship, it hasn’t.”
- “It’s still in the minds of every Canadian player and fan out here this week. Who will be the player to finally break the drought, and will it happen in Hamilton?”
- “Corey Conners’ name might spring to mind as a candidate to get the job done. He certainly has the game. The Listowel, Ont., native has been enjoying a pretty good year out on the PGA Tour. He won the Valero Texas Open in April to join the growing ranks of Canadians to have hoisted trophies on golf’s top circuit and also has two other top-10 finishes. He is currently the second-ranked Canadian in the world at No. 83 behind Adam Hadwin, who sits at No. 79 and is also competing this week.”
6. New greens = more majors?
AP report…”The brown, lumpy patches that dotted nearly every putting surface at Chambers Bay and became the story of the 2015 U.S. Open are now lush, smooth and a Northwest-appropriate shade of green.”
- “Four years removed from a championship that was largely derided because of its putting green problems, Chambers Bay may have salvaged its future hopes of being part of golf’s championship rotation with a massive effort to replace every green on the course.”
- “I wouldn’t overstate this but it did kind of exceed my expectations,” said USGA senior managing director John Bodenhamer, who got a tour of the changes in late March. “I expected to see a few more seams and things but I think it grew in beautifully. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but I kind of was.”
Full piece.
7. Cantlay’s journey
Excellent AP story on Patrick Cantlay’s road back (sorry) from a career-derailing back injury…
- A morsel…”Cantlay, who had won the week before in Colombia on the Web.com Tour, was two months away from one swing that nearly ended his career, a pain he described as a knife in his back. That was the start of back trouble so severe there was no guarantee he would ever return.”
- “He was 20 when he turned pro. He was 25 for his official rookie season in 2017 on the PGA Tour. Trying to manage his schedule after not having competed for two straight years, Cantlay played 11 times and still made it to the Tour Championship.”
- “If he had the full year this year, I would imagine he’d have been on the Presidents Cup team, no question,” Spieth said at the TPC Boston that year. “He’s extremely talented, and he’s going to work his way up into the top 10 in the world, in my opinion.”
8. Loopers!
Helen Ross spoke with the director of the upcoming film “Loopers: A caddie’s long walk,” Jason Baffa.
PGATOUR.COM: So how did you narrow the focus to the caddies that you spotlighted? How did you uncover these people?
BAFFA: It was a team effort. One of the producers, Clark Cunningham, his role was very much finding the off-beat stories, like the Special Olympics story, and getting in touch with Greg Puga. And then Ward Clayton, who wrote ‘Men on the Bag: The Caddies of Augusta’ — he was so connected with history, and then also the modern pro players. And Ward really helped a lot in connecting us with people. … It was a long journey, four-plus years, maybe, by the time we got everything we needed, but it truly started with just casting a wide net. We went to the Masters, I think it was the 2015, and that’s where we found Jerry Beard (the local caddy on Fuzzy Zoeller’s bag when he won the Masters) and a few other people. And we just started interviewing anyone who would talk to us. And then that would open a door, ‘Oh, you got to talk to this person or that.’ And we took all that and then started looking at it and piecing together what we thought made sense, and then building on that. So, it was a very broad, interesting approach. I don’t know if I’d recommend it to other filmmakers. You have to be very patient, but in the end, I’m happy with what we came away with.
9. Fifty for father
From a press release…”Pete Crozier, an Ohio-based golfer, is embarking on a 50-day journey where he will play 50 golf courses across all 50 states to raise $50,000 for type 1 diabetes research, benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In honor of his late father, Crozier is taking his fond memories of golfing with his father and putting them into action. His journey will begin May 27 at The Founder’s Club at St. James Plantation in Southport, NC.”
- “…A cause close to his family, Crozier’s 15-year-old son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age four, while his father succumbed to a stroke resulting from complications of the disease 20 years ago. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), type 1 diabetes inflicts approximately 1.25 million Americans, with an estimated 40,000 new diagnoses each year and no known cure.”
- “…Fifty for Father concludes July 15 at Green Hill Golf Course in Worcester, MA, on the same course where Crozier’s father learned to play golf. “
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