The RCGA announced the final field for the Canadian Open, minus the four Monday qualifiers. Interestingly, I’ll be aiding one of those qualifiers, carrying the bag of Alan McLean from London, Ont. on Monday at Rattlesnake.
As for the others, here they are, with my commentary in brackets. Interestingly, it isn’t a bad field, but it has really been boosted by the addition of Anthony Kim. Otherwise, it is still lacking the big names like Phil Mickelson, and perennial regular Vijay Singh, who has been part of the field for as long as I can recall. But with Kim they have a player who represents the future of the PGA Tour, while Singh pretty much is part of the past now.
Also worth noting is Boo Weekley, who would have added some colour to the tournament and was previously announced as coming, appears to have withdrawn, as did Hunter Mahan. There may be depth to this field, but missing two stars initially announced surely doesn’t help.
Here’s the list:
Brad AdamonisSteve Allan
Michael Allen
Jason Allred
Stephen Ames* (Looking to string four solid rounds together at the Abbey)
Billy Andrade
Ryan Armour
Eric Axley (Stack ‘n Tilter)
Briny Baird (Having another quietly good season on tour with $1.3M in earnings)
Craig Barlow
Cameron Beckman
Shane Bertsch (on the Top 125 bubble)
Adam Bland
Justin Bolli
George Bradford
Michael Bradley
Andrew Buckle
Mark Calcavecchia (Won the Canadian Open not that long ago, gotten old, it would seem)
Alejandro Canizares
Alex Cejka (Czech is having a strong year)
Paul Claxton
Gavin Coles
Chad Collins
Fred Couples (People will care, but he’s nearer the Champions Tour now than being a force on the PGA Tour)
Kris Cox
Ben Curtis (Everyone thought he was a one-hit wonder — but has $1M in earnings again this year)
Brian Davis
Marco Dawson
Jason Day
Bryan DeCorso*
Todd Demsey
Chris DiMarco (How far he’s fallen)
Jason Dufner
Ken Duke
Joe Durant
Brad Elder
Steve Elkington (Has nearly $1M in earnings this year)
John Ellis
Bob Estes
Kenneth Ferrie
Nick Flanagan (Nationwide success hasn’t translated)
Steve Flesch
Carlos Franco (Remember when this guy used to be among the best in the world?)
Harrison Frazar
Cody Freeman
Brad Fritsch*
Jim Furyk (In a bad year he’s still nailed nearly $2M in winnings)
Tommy Gainey (Two gloves, yawn…)
Robert Garrigus
Brian Gay
Brent Geiberger
Retief Goosen (Remember the “Big Four?” Didn’t think so.)
Jason Gore
Jeff Gove
Nathan Green
Mathias Gronberg
Bill Haas (The swing of a star, but not the results so far)
Todd Hamilton
Dudley Hart
J.P. Hayes
David Hearn*
Wes Heffernan*
Bob Heintz
J.J. Henry (Hard to imagine he was on the Ryder Cup team only two years ago)
Charley Hoffman
Daniel Im
Ryuji Imada (Top 10 on the money list)
Lee Janzen
Brandt Jobe
Dustin Johnson
Richard Johnson
Richard S. Johnson
Kent Jones
Matt Jones
Craig Kanada
Jerry Kelly (rock solid journeyman who took the Canadian Open charter last year and returns the favour by playing this year)
Anthony Kim
(a) Michael Knight *
Cliff Kresge (You might be able to pick him out of a police lineup, but he’s won $1M this year)
Matt Kuchar
Doug LaBelle II
Martin Laird
Eric Landreville*
Ian Leggatt *
Michael Letzig
W.C. Liang
Frank Lickliter II
Steve Lowery (Won earlier this year)
David Lutterus
Will MacKenzie
Jeff Maggert
John Mallinger
Steve Marino (Lost in a playoff two weeks ago)
Troy Matteson
Len Mattiace (Two words — 2003 Masters)
Billy Mayfair (Perenially good player)
Scott McCarron (Recovering from injury)
Jim McGovern
Parker McLachlin
Jon Mills *
Larry Mize
David Morland IV*
Kevin Na
Sean OHair (Back on form)
Jeff Overton
Ryan Palmer (Fallen off from strong past play)
Brenden Pappas
Jin Park
Corey Pavin
Pat Perez (Feisty and playing well)
Travis Perkins
Tom Pernice Jr.
Tim Petrovic
Carl Pettersson
Ted Purdy
Jeff Quinney (One of the best in the field)
Chez Reavie
Tag Ridlings
Dustin Risdon *
Brett Rumford
Jim Rutledge *
John Senden (Another solid year)
Patrick Sheehan
Webb Simpson
Bob Sowards
Kevin Stadler
Scott Sterling
Kevin Streelman
Chris Stroud
Kevin Sutherland
(a) Nick Taylor * (Canadian am Champ)
Kyle Thompson
Nicholas Thompson
Marc Turnesa
Bob Tway (Former CanOpen champ)
Omar Uresti
Bo Van Pelt
Scott Verplank (Average year after great 2007)
Camilo Villegas (Well known, but isn’t playing particularly well)
Jimmy Walker
Charles Warren
Nick Watney
Bubba Watson (Long drives, not much more)
Mike Weir *
Ron Whittaker
Charlie Wi
Tim Wilkinson
Jay Williamson
Dean Wilson
Mark Wilson
Y.E. Yang
Your comment about Camillo Villegas (well known but isn’t playing particularly well) may be true for the year but not true for the last 5 holes of the 2nd round of The Open (5 birdies to put him in contention for the weekend)…I wonder if his round three will be similar to round one (76) or round two (65)…
The 2 words beside Len Mattiace should be p$#sy bitch, who cries after choking in a playoff, I’d be mad not sad.
Rob, which players accepted the free RCGA charter flight last year……….???Curious if they are playing this year???
So whos going to withdraw midweek? I think Scott Verplank is almost automatic with the personal issues.
Sad that Weir was playing with Boo the first two days at Open, and he still didnt commit.
How do you figure you are aiding Mclean by carrying his hooks? Shouldn’t he have a real caddie? 😉
Another note should be added as Richard Johnson just won this past week in Milwaukee.