Stiffing the Canadian Open...

[Michael Christensen]

I apologize if one of our Canadian brethren have brought this up, but I didn't see any mention.  Just got done with the 8/3/07 GolfWorld.  There was a very good article on the Canadian Open.  Unfortunately, the article does not cast a good light on some members of the PGA Tour.  Trying to lure some players coming back from the The Open, tournament director Bill Paul chartered a plane from Scotland to Canada (charging $1,000 for a seat....quite a bargain).  Well it seems that 18 players accepted the offer for the charter, including eventual defending champ Furyk.  This is an exact quotation from the article:

"Also among the players who hitched a ridge home on the jet were Steve Stricker, Jerry Kelly, Carl Pettersson, Ryan Moore and Boo Weekley.  None of these five even bothered to play at Angus Glen.  Moore and Weekley had committed to the event, but withdrew once they cleared customs in Canada.  The other three presumably never planned to play, they were just looking for an easier and cheaper way home than flying commercial."

Way to support an event guys.  You are multi millionaires and pull this on a struggling event (does not currently have a sponsor and lost $3 million this year).  I have lost a lot of respect for these players.  Boo's country act seems to be just that....what a cowardly move by you and these other 4 CHEAP suits!

The PGA Tour should sanction these guys for their behavior.

[rboyce]

Ouch that's rough.

The Canadian Open always seems to be played on courses that are architecturally interesting. Especially when contrasted with something like Firestone which appears to be very plain on tv.

[Gerry B]

well it wasn't played on an interesting layout this year - the course is mediocre at best.

the course would not rank in the top 10 -15  courses in toronto.

i was away but is it true that davis love- who did some work on the course a few years ago - did not even bother to show up?

total embarassment for the RCGA - the Canadian Open at one time used to be considerd the 5th major  -  not anymore.

might as well be the john deere or milwaukee open.

[Wayne_Kozun]

One minor point in defense of the PGA players is that there were doubts as to whether Heathrow would be open due to the flooding that England has been experiencing.  Some of the players asked the RCGA for a ride and said that they would not be playing.  The RCGA allowed them on the flight, presumably with the thought that these players owe the RCGA a favour in the future.  This managed to annoy Stewart Cink who asked for a ride a week or so in advance and was told that he couldn't come since he wasn't playing in Canada.  They changed their tune due to the flooding issue.

But Gerry is absolutely right - I started the thread about Davis Love not coming and I also stated that the course is not anywhere near the top 10 in the Toronto area and is not even the best course on the property.  See the thread here: http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=30432;start=0

More than ten courses in the Toronto area that are better:  The National, St. Georges, Hamilton, Toronto GC, Eagle's Nest, Weston, Scarboro, Angus Glen South, Toronto GC, Osprey Valley Heathlands, Devil's Paintbrush, Beacon Hall, Glen Abbey, Devil's Pulpit, and probably at least a dozen more.

Maybe those who skipped the Canadian Open were wise - very few players played in the British Open, Canada and Firestone.  Two who did were Mike Weir and Jim Furyk who both pulled out of Firestone with injuries.

[Robert Thompson]

Having covered the tournament and spoken with Mike Weir following the event for a magazine article, I'd suggest that for the most part the RCGA knew Stricker and the others were not playing in Toronto -- they allowed them to come on the flight when the plane wasn't full and due to weather.

However, Weekly and Moore had apparently said they were playing and then withdrew, which is pretty poor.

Maybe this creates some goodwill for the Canadian Open, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Brian_Ewen]

http://www.scoregolf.com/articles/xx-column-lorne-rubenstein/spoiled-sport.cfm

[John Kavanaugh]

After the British and US Opens where would the Canadian fall?

British
US
Australian
Scottish
French
.
.
.
.
Canadian

[jeffwarne]

Maybe Boo found out Canada wasn't the home of golf.....
Some people really shouldn't talk with a camera/microphone around

[Wayne_Kozun]

After the British and US Opens where would the Canadian fall?

British
US
Australian
Scottish
French
.
.
.
.
Canadian

I think this is a touch unkind as the Canadian is a PGA tour event and still gets much better fields than the Scottish, French and Australian events.  Many of the greats of golf have won the Canadian and I am not sure that you can say that about the other three events - although that may not continue given the unkind date on the calendar.  

Do the other events have a past champions list as strong as the following:  Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Bobby Locke, Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods, Tom Weiskopf, Lee Trevino, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Greg Norman, Nick Price and Mark O'Meara.  Nicklaus never won but was runner-up 7 times.

[Brian_Ewen]

Wayne
Isnt that the point , if it wasnt a member of the US...sorry...PGA Tour , what kind of fields would it get ?

I would have thought the Australian Open is at least as strong in past champions : Jack Nicklaus (6 times) - Gary Player (7 times) - Arnold Palmer - Tom Watson - Greg Norman - Peter Thomson - Bobby Locke .

[Guy Nicholson]

Actually, some of the current chatter is that it might get a better field if it *weren't* on the PGA Tour. It might stand a chance of getting a better date.

[Mark Pearce]

One minor point in defense of the PGA players is that there were doubts as to whether Heathrow would be open due to the flooding that England has been experiencing.  

I'm afraid that's absolute nonsense.  Heathrow is nowhere near the areas that were effected or even threatened.

Sounds like a good excuse, though.

[Dan Herrmann]

When I was in college and attending the Canadian Open (early 80's), it was ALWAYS the week following the US Open.  And it always had a fantastic field at Glen Abbey.  US Open winners from the previous week always seemed to be there.

Two things I wish the RCGA hadn't done:
1.  Move it from Glen Abbey, a darn good tournament course
2.  Let the date move from June to September to August.  Come on - get a date and stick with it.  

[Greg Cameron]

From this canadians viewpoint,somethings broken and needs to be fixed,the PGA-Canadian Open relationship.IMHO as was pointed out last month on another thread,,best to join European Tour because no amount of coddling and suckholeing from the Toronto boys will ever get Tiger,Phil and gang to come,we need them to want to come,as is their rights.Ever have unpleasant,time consuming work that you can avoid vs rest or a fun,challenging,productive work environment?The "Can't make me's" or" Don't have to's"....Sounds easy from my armchair........Greg
    P.S. Rumour has it out here on the left coast that Ottawa is planning to sell greater Toronto to an american corporation to pay off national debt,but methinks it was done deal years ago.

[Kerry Gray]

The Canadian Open is not what it used to be, but that's not the PGA Tour's fault or some American's fault.
The Royal Canadian Golf Assoc. has looked anybut but an organization trying to run the 5th Major for some time.
A few miscues I can name.
-making Glen Abbey the Home of the Canadian Open. Many players didn't love it.
-They allowed clubs to bid for the hosting rights. This prompted mediocre courses hosting the event like Angus Glen North and alienated some other courses that were worthy of hosting the event.
-They granted the Open to an unfinished course in Quebec, Terrebone I believe and then had to re-schedule it to Hamilton when the Quebec course was behind schedule.
Alot of bad press on that one.
So the sponsors have to ask if they want to work with these people. Then the Tour wonders if they will even survive so they cannot be given a prime date.
They need a finaincial savour now. Hopefully Ballsillie (Blackberry) and his pals can come to the rescue.
Then go back to encouraging the really good courses in Canada to hosting the Open and financially reward them for the priviledge.
Once they have a solid game plan for the future, they can tell the PGA Tour they need a better date or we may move on.
I hear rumblings that the new leadership is working to get the classic courses to come on board. That's a step in the right direction.
We shall see.