National Post (National Edition)
Sloan makes his opportunity at Bay Hill
It wasn’t long ago that an opportunity to play this week in the Arnold Palmer Invitational was a long-shot for Roger Sloan, but fortunes can change quickly in the game of golf.
Three years after losing his PGA Tour card as a rookie in 2015, the 31-year-old Canadian is working hard to make the most of his second chance. On the strength of his recent play, Sloan made it in the field as the first alternate this week in Florida.
“Three weeks ago I wasn’t even in this event, so I’m extremely honoured and thrilled to be at Bay Hill,” Sloan said after his round Thursday. “It separates itself from the standard tournament for sure.”
Sloan has been playing the best golf of his PGA Tour career and it continued early Thursday. Teeing off at the 10th, he made five birdies over a six hole stretch beginning at the 12th and ending with a birdie at the difficult 221-yard, par-3 17th, where he hit a hybrid that finished just seven feet from the back right pin. “I was able to hit a good quality shot, so you kind of just take one there,” Sloan said.
A bogey-bogey finish took a little of the shine off the round, but things have been going too well for Sloan to be much bothered and he was pleased with Thursday’s two-under 70. He finished the first round tied for 15th with a group of golfers, including Masters champion Patrick Reed and fellow Canadian Adam Hadwin.
Rafa Cabrera Bello leads at sevenunder after shooting an opening round 65.
Sloan spent the past few years on the Web.com Tour after missing 13 of 20 cuts on the PGA Tour in 201415, but doesn’t look at his rookie season with any regret.
“While it wasn’t a lot of great results, it was a catalyst to where I am now,” he said. “I was never too discouraged that I lost my card, it’s just part of the process. Whatever tour you’re playing that year that’s where you’ve got to focus your attention on. For us this year it’s the PGA Tour.”
Sloan’s penchant for finding the good in any situation might have been taught to him by his father on a rather strange day back home in B.C. at Merritt Golf and Country Club. The day he lost a bet by shooting 58.
“True story,” Sloan said. “I had the round of my life, I started off with three eagles in my first four holes and went on to shoot 58.” That’s when it all went wrong. “My dad also had the round of his life,” he added. “He shot 68 as, I believe, a six handicap. At the end of the day I had to throw him a couple bucks.”
MORE CAN-CON AT BAY HILL
Corey Conners found out earlier than Sloan that he would be playing this week at Bay Hill, but was never a sure thing.
The Listowel, Ont., native is having a career year, despite having a hard time knowing whether or not he will be playing on any given week. Conners finished last season outside the top-125 on the PGA Tour’s Fedex Cup standings, but inside the top-150, which means he didn’t keep his card, but he didn’t really lose it either.
The 27-year-old has made the most of this conditional status, finishing second at the Sanderson Farms Championship last fall. He also has twice earned his way into tournaments as a Monday qualifier, including at the Sony Open in Hawaii, where Conners finished tied for third.
“I was hoping I would get in the field this week by my good play so far,” he said. “I kind of had it on the radar and was excited.”
Conners sits 50th in Fedex Cup points this season, which is how he made it here to Bay Hill this week. It’s also why he’s a lock to make the trip down the road next week to TPC Sawgrass for the Players Championship.
Mitch Marner has 15 games to put himself in a small class of elite Toronto Maple Leafs.
With 82 points in 67 games — good for ninth in National Hockey League scoring before games on Thursday — Marner has an excellent shot at becoming just the third Leaf to record 100 points in a season.
Darryl Sittler was the first to hit the milestone when he had 100 in 1975-76, and then had 117 points two seasons later.
Doug Gilmour holds the team record with 127 points, set during that magical 1992-93 season by the man whose No. 93 hangs from the rafters at Scotiabank Arena. The next season, Gilmour amassed 111 points.
Marner, playing the majority of the season on John Tavares’ right side, would be the first Leafs winger to hit 100 points. Dave Andreychuk holds the team mark for most points by a winger, with 99 from the left side in 1993-94. Among right wingers, Wilf Paiement has the team record with 97 points in 1980-81.
Marner has been on a tear, recording 11 points in his past five games. Against the Edmonton Oilers, who play host to the Leafs on Saturday as Toronto ends its threegame trip through Western Canada, Marner has four points in five career games.
What makes Marner’s scoring feats all the more impressive in comparison to what Gilmour and Sittler did is that Marner is getting it done at the age of 21. Sittler was 25 when he had his first 100-point year for Toronto, Gilmour 29.
Mats Sundin led the Leafs in scoring in 12 seasons, but never had more than 94 points, which he accomplished in 1996-97. Phil Kessel’s best season as a Leaf was in 2011-12 when he had 82 points.
For Zach Hyman, one of Marner’s linemates, there is a crucial factor in mind each time he goes over the boards.
“You have to expect the puck to come at all times,” Hyman said. “He creates space for himself really quickly, so he is able to create passing angles really fast and you just have to get open.
“Whether that’s pushing off a guy or getting your stick available, sliding back door, those are types of things you need to do.”
Marner has assisted on 11 of Hyman’s career-high 16 goals and has the primary assist on seven of them.
And as evidenced by Ron Hainsey’s second-career shorthanded goal on Wednesday in the 3-2 overtime loss against the Vancouver Canucks, Marner — who set up Hainsey — continues to be a threat when the Leafs are down a man.
The Leafs have scored five shorthanded goals this season, with Marner getting a point on three of them.
“He has been outstanding on (the penalty kill) all year, without question,” Hainsey said. “His speed and his smarts, he reads the plays well. He knows (when) to take off and create.”
Marner’s exploits now — and the firm idea that we’re witnessing just the beginning of what will be a prolific NHL career for the native of Markham, Ont. — will give agent Darren Ferris plenty of material when he sits down with