Notes from the Open

Filed in archive Golf News on July 26, 2007

Hunter Mahan: Courtesy, PGA Tour

When Davis Love gave his press conference at
in early June to bestow his blessing on the changes wrought by his design team for this year's Canadian Open, he said at the time "if the conditions are right and the greens are dry, this will be a tough course".

Several weeks ago, I played the North course in the pouring rain during a tournament. I was reminded again (having played the same tournament the year before on the same layout) that the fairways at Angus Glen North are very wide - many are 25 yards or more in width.

I thought then that the pros would be shooting very low numbers when they arrived to take part in the Canadian Open. The rains did a lot to soften the greens on the North Course and early scores today in round one testified to the course's vulnerability from golfers who know what they're doing.

In morning play, Hunter Mahan posted a stunning 62 to take the lead at 9 under par. Shortly before the afternoon pairings began, the winds started to whip up, gusty, hot breaths blowing across the North Course that began to pose problems.

Scores started to rise but the risk remains: Angus Glen North could witness seriously low scoring.

I spent an eventful day at the Open; standing against the rope along the left side of the fairway on number 9, I jumped out of my skin when a tee shot landed within 3 feet of me, instantly lost in Davis Love's deep rough.

It was the ball of Australian Gavin Cole and when he walked up, the spotter pointed it out.

Cole muttered in a thick Aussie accent, "There's my ball, buried as usual. That's what this game does to me all the time". With that, he grabbed his wedge, walked up to the ball and hacked it back into the fairway as quickly as he could swing the club. He was some ticked. He knew there was no hope of reaching the elevated green a mere 107 yards away.

Cole was 1 under at the time; he finished even par.

One of his playing partners, Canadian Bryn Parry, just ahead of Cole in the first cut, tried to go for the green; his club face turned over in the 2 inch rough and he hooked his shot into the left trap in front of the green - covering a mere 70 yards. He bogeyed the par 4, 9th hole.

Sometime during the morning rounds, Jay Williamson and his caddy had a shouting match on the back nine, apparently over wind direction after Williamson had hit a bad approach shot.

There was some loud language and accusations hurled back and forth, the caddy threw down Williamson's bag and walked off.

Williamson tagged a spectator to carry for him the rest of the way!

There was plenty of action on the range again - especially in the afternoon as players from the morning rounds put in some extra hours and the afternoon players got ready for their opening rounds.

Kiwi Craig Perks, who won the Players Championship in 2002 hasn't done a thing since.

This year, he has played in 10 PGA events and missed the cut in all of them, never shooting lower than 4 over par.

Yet to watch him striping his driver 285 plus on the practice range, you'd think he was on top of his game. Mechanically, he is. Mentally, he's carrying a 20 handicap.

Big John Daly withdrew with a shoulder injury today; he had reportedly already paid his caddy in advance for the week. Not a bad pay check for one day's work.

Notes from the Open will continue, including an audio interview with Mark Greenwood, Canadian Director of Swing Machine Golf, who threw his hat in the ring in Monday's Canadian Open qualifier at Royal Ashburn, home of the Canadian Tour Q School, in his bid to play in the Canadian Open.