Even Nathan Green knew it would be tough going up against Retief Goosen in a playoff, but the underdog overcame.
Jul. 30, 2009
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What are our writers thinking about after the RBC Canadian Open? A crazy week in Canada, flex scheduling, Nathan Green's win, Tiger Woods' future and more Tom Watson.
FLEX SCHEDULING?: What a weird week it was in Canada. More than a dozen hours of weather delays, one player nearly giving the tournament away, then another giving it right back. Eight -- yes, eight -- holes-in-one, including one that caromed off another ball already on the green. Mike Weir's bizarre ruling. Tournament official Steve Carman might have gotten more air time than eventual winner Nathan Green (more on him below).
But one of the more interesting -- and potentially notable -- things to happen at the RBC Canadian Open was Commissioner Tim Finchem discussing the possibility of flex scheduling after the 2012 season, which is when the current television deals run out. The nuts and bolts of the flex scheduling is that some tournaments -- say, the one just held in Canada -- would be moved around to two or three dates to "take advantage of reaching more players," as Finchem said last week. It's similar to what the NFL does with late-season games to get more prominent games into prime-time.
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To his point, as Finchem continued, it's a more difficult world when you have a dominant player (i.e. Tiger Woods). "Before we latch onto something that sounds good or feels good, we gotta make sure it works," Finchem said. "But it's something we'll look at."
Given the current economic climate, among other things, you can bet they'll look hard. Not that it's guaranteed to become reality. "There are a lot of issues with it," Finchem said.
I can tell you one thing, one of those issues won't be getting said dominant player to commit, not if his buddy Michael Jordan is playing in Mike Weir's pro-am there, as MJ did this year, and the tournament isn't played the week after the British Open. -- Brian Wacker
GREEN GETS IT DONE: Nathan Green stood in the center of the 17th fairway at Glen Abbey on Monday afternoon, 204 yards away and with a 4-iron in his hand, knowing that this situation is not what built his reputation on the PGA TOUR.
Green has always fought to keep up with the big hitters on TOUR -- he's ranked 131st in driving distance and has always relied on a pure putting stroke to even out the balance. To complicate matters, he has struggled on long-to-mid iron approaches all year, having ranked 162nd on TOUR in greens in regulation from 175-200 yards. That is what made his shot in the playoff against Retief Goosen all the more remarkable.
Green had one big advantage -- he got to hit first. With Goosen stuck in the left-hand rough, Green was able to bear down and stay with the shot the whole way, and his 4-iron covered the flag, landing just 12 feet away. After Goosen shoved his approach shot well right of the green, victory was virtually assured for the little Aussie, who was giving up easily 30 yards to Goosen in the playoff.
Glen Abbey will give way to St. George's in Ontario as the host course for the RBC Canadian Open in 2010, but the TOUR will undoubtedly find its way back to Oakville, where the short hitters always have more than a chance. -- Ryan Smithson
TIGER TRACKS: We're gearing up for an interesting stretch of golf that includes the season's final major and the four events that make up the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. It could be a Tiger Woods-fest, too.
Woods, already a three-time champ in 2009, has won 14 times on five of the final eight venues -- and he finished second to Rich Beem in the 2002 PGA at Hazeltine in one of the others. Does anyone else see the potential for another of his patented streaks?
After all, Woods will likely play the next three weeks. He's definitely in the field for this week's Buick Open, where he's won two times, and next on the horizon is the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, where he is a six-time champ.
And Woods, who hasn't been shut out in the majors since the 2003 and 2004 seasons, is sure to be motivated at the PGA. Then comes the Playoffs, where Woods, the 2007 FedExCup champ who's currently second in the standings, has won four times at Cog Hill and once each at TPC Boston and East Lake.
Can you see five or six more wins in his future? Of course you can. He's won seven, six and five consecutive starts during his career -- joining Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and Jackie Burke Jr. as the only players to have won more than three in a row. It could be an interesting couple of months, don't you think? -- Helen Ross
OVER 50, BUT NOT OVERMATCHED: The only person who isn't a fan of British Open runner-up Tom Watson these days is, well, Tom Watson himself. At least that was the case this weekend, when he had seven three-putts on Saturday and Sunday at the Senior British Open.
"But I got the putter sorted out, so I'm very happy and a lot (bigger) fan of mine today than I was yesterday," Watson said after his final round.
His tie for eighth at the Senior Open capped off a "magical" two-week run for the 59-year-old, who put on one of the most amazing performances in golf history two weeks ago to nearly win his sixth British Open.
Watson wasn't the only player to experience heartbreak on the British Isles. Greg Norman -- the man who was in Watson's shoes last year as the over-50 surprise contender at the British Open -- held the third-round lead at the Senior Open Championship before a final-round 71 shattered his hopes of earning his first Champions Tour win.
So who is a happy 50-something? That would be Loren Roberts, who captured his second Senior British Open title in a playoff and grabbed a spot in next year's British Open at St. Andrews. No doubt he'll be hoping for the same luck that Watson and Norman had against the young foes on the PGA TOUR. -- Lauren Deason
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| Stock up |
Anthony Kim: The 73 Kim shot wasn't a total final-round flame-out like he had at the AT&T National -- with all the delays, any 24-year-old is going to have the patience of a jumping jack. The important thing is that he's starting to contend regularly and even more importantly, his commitment is serious.
FedExCup rank: 23 (38 last week) |
Jerry Kelly: Forget the double bogey on the 71st hole Monday, Kelly has fixed his swing -- which had gotten away from him after his win in New Orleans -- and has now finished in the top five each of the last two weeks. He also inched up the standings to 15th for the Presidents Cup.
FedExCup rank: 19 (21 last week) |
Mark Calcavecchia: He's always been streaky, and that streak was molten-hot in Round 2 in Canada, where he made a TOUR-record nine birdies in a row. He went on to tie for eighth, and the last time he was streaky good was in February when he went T4 and T6 at Pebble and Riviera.
FedExCup rank: 96 (110 last week) |
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| Stock down |
Retief Goosen: It was his fourth straight top-six worldwide, but Goosen let the trophy twice slip through his hands -- midway through his back nine and once in the playoff. Bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15 meant only an eagle on the 18th got him to extra holes. Then he missed a 6-footer to win in OT.
FedExCup rank: 10 (16 last week) |
Steve Marino: Two over through his first nine in Round 3 (after playing his first 36 in 5 under), Marino withdrew, and that meant three straight picks, three straight WDs for yours truly because Fred Couples (injury in pro-am) and Aaron Baddeley (would have missed cut) pulled out, too.
FedExCup rank: 27 (24 last week) |
John Daly: He started his season off well enough with some good results in Europe, but those haven't translated Stateside, where he has a T59, T27 and a missed cut after last week's RBC Canadian Open. You just have to hope the newfound commitment doesn't wane if the results start to.
FedExCup rank: 206 (208 last week) |
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| A Quick 18 |
| Front Nine | Back Nine |
| When Tiger Woods committed to playing in this week's Buick Open, it surprised some. But history should tell us not to be. Tiger has won there twice and finished second twice. He obviously likes the place, and though he no longer has Buick on his bag, he still has loyalty to the company and a need to get some reps in. | One critical part of the RBC Canadian Open's future -- aside from the already unwavering support of RBC and the Royal Canadian Golf Association -- could be the Mike Weir Charity Classic, which featured Michael Jordan and Kevin Costner, among others. Just ask the 10,000 fans it drew on a Monday. |
| Speaking of Tiger, are we on the verge of another sort of slam, the pre-major slam? Woods hasn't won a major this year, but he has won every one of his last starts before a major, beginning with the Arnold Palmer Invitational, then the Memorial Tournament, followed by his own AT&T National. | One of the reasons Retief Goosen has played so well of late, including last week: He led the field on the par 5s at Glen Abbey, playing them in 15 under. The highlight of those was an eagle on the 72nd hole to force the playoff with Nathan Green. Through the first 36 holes, Goosen was 9 under on the par 5s. |
| What are Woods' odds of completing said slam? Uh, pretty good. He's won the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational six times, including three in a row (twice) from 2005 to 2007 and from 1999 to 2001. That's very Chicago Bullsian of him (the Bulls and buddy MJ twice three-peated). | Lift, clean and place or no lift, clean and place, eight holes-in-one is insane. Coming into the week, there had been 21 aces recorded all year. In case you missed them, they came from: Peter Lonard and Joe Durant (Round 1); Leif Olson, Arjun Atwal, Casey Wittenberg and Briny Baird (2); Mike Weir (3) and Kevin Sutherland (4). |
| Phil Mickelson's bid to purchase a chain of 105 Waffle House restaurants, which his group, GS Acquisitions LLC, made last week, drips in maple-syrup irony. But if you've ever been to the Southeast, you'd probably think it was a smart business decision, too, because they're everywhere.
| The most bizarre of those holes-in-one came from Olson, whose tee shot on the 132-yard 15th spun back and caromed off playing partner Kris Blanks' ball already on the green. It tracked right into the hole, and, as a result Olson, who'd earned just $19,000 coming into the week, won a $50,000 BMW Z4 Roadster.
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| On the topic of Mickelson, the fact that he was doing business deals and appearing on FOX & Friends last week is yet another positive sign that things seem to be going well with his mother, Mary, and wife, Amy, in their respective battles with breast cancer. Word that he's playing in next week's World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational is even more evidence. | Adding to the craziness of last week was the Mike Weir ruling on whether or not he caused his ball to move while addressing it on the 18th hole Saturday. Better safe than sorry, Weir called for a rules official and was ultimately penalized a shot. If you were Weir, though, you'd hate for something like that to determine a tournament. |
| What a great idea the Kodak Challenge has proven to be. In its inaugural year, it has generated so much buzz that some players are talking about it during tournament play. It's also resulted in some players, like standings leader Kevin Streelman, adding tournaments to their schedules. | Canadian Matt Hill missed the cut at Glen Abbey in what was just his second start on TOUR, but it was a good week for the rookie, who got a sponsor's exemption into this week's Buick Open. Low Canadian honors went to Chris Baryla and Stephen Ames at 12 under.
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| As the year's final major approaches, the course that hosted the 1988 PGA, Oak Tree G.C. in Edmund, Okla., is "hoping to attract major events again," said new owner Ed Evans after $6 million in renovations. That hope, according to reports, seems to focus on the 2014 U.S. Senior Open or U.S. Amateur. | Let's just say it would have been easier to get around Glen Abbey in an ark than a golf cart after more than 4 inches of rain fell over the first four days of the tournament. Line of the week from official Steve Carman: "If you had a sponge underneath a faucet, the water just starts running off. That's the case we have right now." |
| Justin Timberlake's Mirimichi golf course in Millington, Tenn., opened over the weekend after a $16 million renovation. Timberlake bought the place in 2007 to save it from commercial development and the 7,400-yard, par-72 layout will feature, among other things, four waterfalls, six lakes and two creeks.
| Tweet of the week: "I think there is a lot the RCGA needs to do to re-establish our tourney. New course, time and layout etc." -- Canadian Open fan Dan Croutch (@dcoutch). Don't worry Dan, they are and they will. RBC, Mike Weir and others will play key roles as well. And don't overlook the enormous charitable impact this event has. |
| After getting kicked off the Duke University golf team and having a subsequent lawsuit tossed out of court, Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, is trying his luck on the next installment of the Big Break, which is being filmed in Orlando and will air in October. |
Jim Furyk, who will be one of the favorites at this week's Buick Open having twice been a runner-up at Warwick Hills, comes in fourth in scoring average and 14th in scoring average before the cut. After the cut? He's 100th and 62nd in third and fourth-round scoring, respectively, which is why he has seven top-10s and zero wins. |
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| The Forward Spin |
Warwick Hills was the eighth easiest course on the PGA TOUR in 2008. It's also a place that has been dominated multiple times by a select group of players that includes Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh (though he's not in the field this year), Woody Austin, Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard.
There are a few different ways to interpret Woods' decision to play there -- this is the first time in a long time that Woods has played twice between the British Open and the PGA Championship -- but one of them isn't that Woods is somehow pushing the panic button after missing the cut at Turnberry. As noted earlier, he's won twice and finished second twice at the Buick Open and though he doesn't have sponsorship ties to carmaker Buick anymore, he does have loyalty.
On a sad note, Kenny Perry won't be defending his title there so he can stay near his cancer-stricken mother, Mildred, who is under hospice care as she battles blood cancer. Perry considered earlier pulling out of the British Open until doctors assured him that his mother would be alright while he was away. Say a prayer for him and his family right now, though, they need it. |
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PGATOUR.COM'S Brian Wacker wrote Stock Up, Stock Down, the Quick 18 and Forward Spin.
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