Though Dave Perkins of the Toronto Star is in Chicago for the PGA Championship, he’s full of info about the Canadian Open, specifically who is and who isn’t coming. Apparently Mike Weir has been lobbying hard for the event and has convinced Jim Furyk to come.
“I told him he’d love the golf course. The way he hits the ball, it’s made for him,” Weir said.
On the other hand, there was the ever diplomatic Stephen Ames.
“A couple of guys have asked me,” fellow Canadian Stephen Ames said. “They heard about how good it was there (in 2003). There are a few names that are coming who weren’t there the last time. It won’t be the prima donnas, (Phil) Mickelson and (Tiger) Woods and all those guys, but overall I think they’ll have a pretty good field. Furyk said he was coming. (Chris) DiMarco said he was coming.”
Got to love Ames’ honesty. As Bob Weeks has reported, Phil won’t be coming, though apparently he’d told Tournament director Bill Paul that he would. Phil is notorious for this. One time he apparently had tournament officials arrange a house rental for him near Glen Abbey and then decided he’d rather attend a family function.
And if you ever wondered why the RCGA has such a tough time attracting good fields to the open — take note. David Toms apparently won’t be coming because he wants to watch the LSU football game that weekend. Wow. I bet lots of golf fans wish they could tell their boss they weren’t coming in because they wanted to watch the big game.
Oh, and John Daly, apparently, isn’t dead. Could have fooled me. Instead of dying, Daly posted a good score and then had a smoke (or six).
John, don’t you know that smoking is bad for the health of someone who just died of a heart attack?
”I figured since I came back from the dead, I might as well smoke anyway,” he said.
AMES LIKES IT: “It’s a good, old-style golf course. You’ve got to shape your ball off the tee, shape your ball into the green. It’s fun,” Stephen Ames said of Medinah’s No. 3 course. “As usual, the PGA Championship is always set up very fair. It’s probably the fairest of the (majors). That and probably Augusta.”
Tom McBroom has been working on a new golf course in BC called Tobiano. Photos of the site can be found on Golfclubatlas.com. The photos make the course look tremendous. If Tom puts this site together with the great bunkering, this one looks like it could be a home run. Tremendous views and land that looks pretty amazing. The course has apparently been partially seeded, so it could well be open next year.
Is Ames implying that Tiger is a prima donna? Is he asking for another 10&8? News conference at next year’s Match Play – Reporter:”Tiger, did you read Robert Thompson’s blog last year where Stephen Ames, Tiger’s response “10&8, next question”
Nice to see the pictures of Tobiano. The property looks pretty special, nice views of the water and some areas that look almost barren. Will be nice to see more of the place as construction and grow in continues. Would like to hear more about sage brush and perhaps see some pictures. Its nice to hear about new courses in other provinces.