SOME WATER HAZARD
Scott McCarron, last year’s Shaw Charity Classic winner, goes fishing Wednesday in the Bow River with his wife Jenny and fishing guide Paula Shearer. McCarron hopes to repeat when the PGA Tour Champions event begins Friday at Canyon Meadows.
Fan favourite Fred Couples has cancelled his trip to the 2018 Shaw Charity Classic.
Tournament officials announced Wednesday evening the 58-yearold was forced to withdraw for health reasons.
Couples, who was slated to arrive for Thursday’s pro-am at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club, has a history of back issues.
“The Shaw Charity Classic is a very special tournament to me, and I love coming back to Calgary each year, but unfortunately this year, I’m just not physically able to compete,” Couples said in a statement. “I’ve always said as long as I’m healthy, I plan on coming to Calgary every year. The people at Shaw are incredible. The crowds are huge and the course is always in great shape, so I hope to be back to this great tournament next summer.”
Couples’ change-of-plans shouldn’t come as a complete surprise — he’s been limited to only five starts this season on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, plus his annual appearance at The Masters at Augusta National. (Among his 15 triumphs on the PGA Tour, he was fitted for a Green Jacket in 1992.)
He played his hometown event last week in Seattle and was hoping he’d be feeling good enough for a return to Canyon Meadows, where he put on a heck of a show during the final round in 2014, capping a course-record spin of 9-under 61 with a chip-in for eagle on No. 18 and then defeating Billy Andrade in a playoff.
Couples also missed the Shaw Charity Classic in 2016 and withdrew moments before his Sunday tee-time last year after aggravating his back during his warm-up.
“We understand the health issues Freddy has faced throughout his career,” said Shaw Charity Classic executive director Sean Van Kesteren in a statement. “We wish him a speedy recovery.”
Couples is always a marquee attraction, but the latest edition of Calgary ’s senior shootout — the action officially starts Friday — certainly won’t be lacking star-power even without him.
Like Couples, Bernhard Langer, Davis Love III, Colin Montgomerie, Mark O’Meara and Vijay Singh are all in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Nicknamed ‘The Most Interesting Man in Golf,’ Miguel Angel Jimenez arrives in Calgary as the leader of the Charles Schwab Cup points race, while Scott McCarron is back to defend his title and local ties Steve Blake and Stephen Ames — now based in Vancouver — will have plenty of family and friends cheering them on.
With Couples out, alternate Skip Kendall joins the 78-man field for the three-round shootout.