Canadian Open Update

The Canadian Open at Shaugnessy G&C proved to be a major caliber test.  Unfortunately, the major caliber players weren’t up to it and we ended with a war of attrition that left only Sean O’Hair and Kris Blanks standing.  The playoff hole told the whole story as Blanks went from the left rough to the right bunker to the rough behind the hole to 6 feet above the hole before handing the tournament to O’Hair with a double.  He looked like he was trying to close-out the 7th flight of the Shaugnessy Member-Guest after a double Mount Gay and tonic at the turn.   

This tournament has been in a rut since Jim Furyk edged Vijay Singh in 2007.  The sponsors were praying for Rickie Fowler not to do his usual weekend fold job and for Luke Donald not to spend the first three rounds building a comfortable deficit that would free him up to go low on Sunday but they both stayed true to form.  That left intriguing long shots like John Daly and Adam Hedwin who stayed in the mix through Sunday but couldn’t close.  Sean O’Hair is a nice story but he doesn't move the needle and the Canucks were left longing for a finish like they had in 2000 when Tiger won it with this ridiculous shot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZTuhV4v0H4          

"I'm telling you O'Hair got lucky. 
Do you want to beat Kris Blanks? 
I can get you past Kris Blanks."

It was a big win for O’Hair who had only made 3 of his last 12 cuts before coming to Canada.  Apparently it took some time to get his old swing back after dropping Sean Foley as his swing coach in May.  Foley must have been cringing at the repeated mention of that fact by the announcers considering his other students, Tiger, Hunter Mahan and Justin Rose have combined for zero wins this year.  He’s letting most of Tiger’s calls go to voicemail these days until he gets out of firing mode. 

I’m officially naming my unscientific process for picking winners “The Blutarsky Method” after going on a hunch with Andres Romero and then watching him make it to the 18^th tee on Sunday with a share of the lead before chopping his way to a solo third.  Of course when it came to adding a player to my own roster, I went safe with the defending champion, Carl Pettersson, who missed the cut by four.  The logic of picking the defending champion kind of goes out the window when they change courses - especially when they move it from a birdie fest like St. George’s Golf & Country Club to Canada’s version of Pine Valley.  It’s kind of like picking a guy to win in Vancouver because he grew-up in Seattle.  Look for the chunky Swede to fare a little better this week at the Greenbrier where there were scores of 59, 60 and 61 last year and the breakfast buffet is rumored to be off the charts.

"Are you kidding me Romero?"

Light update this week as I’ve got a more entertaining story on deck from my day playing on the surface of the sun last week.