Now that’s Canadian content
Canucks standing tall in PGA showcase
There was no Canadian Open this year, but fear not golf fans because we scored a foursome in this week’s PGA Championship.
The strangest year in memory has at least been a productive one for Canadian golfers on the PGA Tour. For the first time since the world rankings began, there are four Canadians in the top 100 and they’re all at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco this week.
“We’re all great friends, so we spend a lot of time with one another and we are all cheering for each other,” Corey Conners said about Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor and Mackenzie Hughes after his round Thursday. “I think highly of each of their games and we’re all playing pretty well at the moment. It’s a fun group to be a part of it, and it’s exciting for Canadian golf.”
Conners, Hughes and Taylor all played in the morning wave Thursday. Conners was the only one who got into the clubhouse in red numbers after making an eight- foot par putt on his final hole to shoot a 1- under par 69. He had three birdies and two bogeys on the day.
“I felt great about my ball-striking coming into the week, and some confidence with my short game knowing that if I did miss a fairway or if I did miss a green, I was going to be able to give myself a chance to get upand- down and make a nice save,” Conners said.
Harding Park sets up well for the Listowel, Ont., native, with its demanding tee shots and punitive rough. Last season, Conners was first on the PGA Tour in greens in regulation and 10th in total driving. His numbers aren’t quite as lofty this season, but he’s still one of the best ball-strikers on tour.
“Ever since my first practice round on Monday, I thought it was definitely right up my alley,” he said. “I love the look of it visually; it’s in great shape. Fairways are at a really big premium this week. I’m happy with my driving. I think it suits me great.”
Conners has a 7- wood in the bag this week and calls it his “secret weapon” to get the ball out of the thick rough. It’s the same plan the 28- year- old put in place at last year’s PGA Championship at Bethpage Black on Long Island, N.Y., a course Conners says plays similarly to Harding Park.
“That was the first course I thought of when I first played it here a couple days ago,” Conners said. “Very similar condition- wise, as well. Rough is very thick and penalizing.”
Conners has missed just one cut in six tournaments since the restart, with a T19 as his best result, and he has four top-15s this season. His win at the Valero Texas Open came last season prior to the Masters.
It’s been a very good year for the other three Canadians in this week’s field. In February, Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., became the first Canadian of his generation to collect a second PGA Tour victory; Hughes of Dundas, Ont., overcame a brutal start to the season and has a runner- up, a T3 and a T6; and Abbotsford’s Hadwin has a runner-up and two T4s.
Hughes was Canada’s hottest golfer coming into this week but made seven bogeys on Thursday, finishing with a 3-over 73.
Taylor skipped the first four tournaments of the restart, and shot a 6-over 76 on Thursday.
Hadwin was the lone Canadian playing in the afternoon wave and began his PGA Championship with fireworks by holing out for an eagle from 74 yards at the par- 4 first hole. He finished the day as the top Canadian after carding a 2-under 68.
Meanwhile, former champion Jason Day held the early clubhouse lead while Brooks Koepka got his bid for a three-peat off to a solid start and Tiger Woods found success with a new putter in the first major of the COVID-19 era.
Australia’s Day, who had top-10 finishes in each of his last three starts on the PGA Tour, carded a bogey- free, 5- under 65 to take the lead after Round 1.
“There was definitely a lot of momentum coming in off the previous finishes that I’ve had, three top 10s, which has been nice,” Day said after the lowest first- round score of his major championship career. “The game feels like it’s coming around. I’m pleased with it.”
Koepka, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Martin Kaymer and Zach Johnson were among a group of 10 who were one shot off the early pace in the first major championship since the July 2019 British Open.
Woods, in only his second PGA Tour event since February, struggled off the tee but, thanks to a longer putter that has allowed him to practice more without back pain, was three shots back after a 68 that included five birdies and three bogeys.
“I thought anything today in the red would be good, given the forecast. ... I was able to do it but I didn’t think there would be that many guys four under or better,” Woods said after his lowest opening round score in a major championship since 2012.
Four- time major champion Koepka, who fell short of a third consecutive U. S. Open title last year, said he was very relaxed during a round in which he made six birdies and two bogeys.
“The majors almost seem like an easier week for me, nine holes pretty much every day in the practice rounds and try to stay off my feet and not do too much,” said Koepka. “I think sometimes guys ... practice a little too much.”