Okay, well not formally announced. In response to Golf Canada’s posting that World No. 1 golfer Luke Donald is coming to the Canadian Open — not surprising since he’s sponsored by RBC and has come to the tournament in the past three years — I thought I’d do a list of the golfers we know will be at the event. I’m sure there will be a formal press release, but this covers most of them off. It is a pretty impressive list, considering nothing has been publicly announced, and I’m sure some lesser names — and maybe one or two other big names — will be part of the group. Usually there’s been an announcement of top names by this time designed to stimulate ticket sales (which were lousy the last time the event was in Vancouver), but for some reasons there’s been little or no promotion to this point. So I figured I’d help them out:
“Team RBC” (RBC’s Jim Little has confirmed to the media that he expects all of the bank’s sponsored players will be at the event):
- Luke Donald (# 1 in World Golf Rankings)
- Anthony Kim (#57)
- Matt Kuchar (#7)
- Jim Furyk (#17)
- Erne Els (#21)
- Stephen Ames
- Mike Weir
I wonder about Fred Couples — but it wouldn’t surprise me as he’s come the last two years as well.
The South Africans (confirmed by a variety of sources)
- Masters winner Charl Schwartzel (#10)
- Defending British Open champ Louis Oosthuizen (#35)
The Others (including those announced for the Skins Game the day after the Canadian Open):
- Lucas Glover (#56)
- Jhonattan Vegas (#89)
- Paul Casey (#9)
Those I’d expect:
- Retief Goosen (#28 — he played the last few years — nearly won two years ago)
- Hunter Mahan (#18 connection to swing coach Sean Foley suggests he’ll likely play)
