NICE, EH? CANADIAN FLAG FLUTTERS HIGH ON TOUR
Taylor, Hughes and Conners listed among top 50 golfers on PGA’S official money list
Golf is now in full swing in North America, including Saskatchewan where competitive golf is now being played along with the recreational stream.
Here are five things to know as we head into the busier July golf schedule:
1.
O, CANADA
The Canadian flag is still flying high on the PGA Tour, even during a global pandemic.
A trio of Canucks is among the top 50 golfers on the PGA Tour’s official money list, including Nick Taylor at No. 27 with $1,802,626. Mackenzie Hughes, fresh off a third-place finish this past weekend at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn., sits in the 44th spot at $1,245,532. Corey Conners is No. 47 on the money list with $1,199,385.
While Hughes was tied for third in the Travelers, Roger Sloan survived the cut and placed 66th. Conners and David Hearn both missed the cut in Connecticut.
Hearn, Sloan, Adam Hadwin and Michael Gligic are the Canadians playing this week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Mich.
Prior to Travelers, Conners posted a top-15 finish with a
T-21 while Hadwin was 41st and Hughes was tied for 70th at the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head in South Carolina. Gligic, Sloan and Hearn failed to qualify for the weekend at the Heritage, all missing the cut.
There are four Canadians in the field at this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event, TPC Colorado Championship, at Heron Lakes.
The group includes Taylor Pendrith, Stuart Macdonald, Adam Svennson and veteran Mike Weir.
In case you’re wondering, Saskatchewan native Graham Delaet has not played on the Tour since the Sony Open in Hawaii back in January when he missed the cut. Delaet has played in only five events during the season, dating back to last October when he participated in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at Las Vegas.
2. SASK.’S COMPETITIVE
GOLF SET TO RESUME Saskatchewan is now seeing the return of competitive golf.
The Saskatchewan Amateur women’s provincial golf championship is slated for The Willows Golf and Country Club next week in Saskatoon.
This past weekend, the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour (MJT) saw its first event of the 2020 season being played at Swift Current, where Saskatoon’s Josh Nagy ( junior boys), Thomas Danielson ( juvenile boys), Sarah Grieve ( junior girls) and Jack Maharaj (pee-wee boys) were among the winners.
Nagy had the low overall twoday score of 145 (70-75). Danielson won his category with a 149 (72-77). Grieve’s two-round score was 150 (77-73) and she celebrated a hole-in-one during her practice round.
Maharaj made the transition from mini-tour to junior tour with a two-round total of 175 (85-90).
The next MJT Junior Tour stop in Saskatchewan is the MJT — Golf Saskatchewan Order of Merit Series July 6-7 at Tor Hill Golf Club in Regina.
3. DAKOTA DUNES
ALUMNI UPDATE
The number of Dakota Dunes Open alumni now playing either on the PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour is substantial, now years since the PGA Tour Canada made its last stop in Saskatchewan.
If you look at this week’s PGA Tour event in Detroit, the Dakota Dunes alumni include the likes of James Hahn, Tony Finau,
J.J. Spaun, Tom Hoge, C.T. Pan, Mark Hubbard, Talor Gooch, Rob Oppenheim, Ryan Brehm, Tyler Mccumber, Sam Ryder, Sloan, Hadwin and Gignic.
And they’re certainly doing well on the big tour. Hoge, Joel Dahmen, Finau, Hubbard, Taylor, Hughes and Conners all are among the top 50 official money earners, all exceeding $1-million on the PGA Tour this season. That’s impressive.
And Gooch is within striking distance in 56th spot with $1,031,342
This week’s Korn Ferry event in Colorado includes former Dakota Dunes participants Erik Barnes, Conrad Schindler, Brandon Harkins, David Skinns, Wade Binfield, Jose de Jesus Rodriguez, Will Wilcox, Joshua Creel and Sam Saunders.
Bo Hoag is another Dakota alumnus now playing on the PGA Tour this season.
4. FATHER’S DAY
WAS NOT THE SAME
As a golf fan, you may not be alone in thinking Father’s Day wasn’t quite the same without the U.S. Open that weekend.
The 2020 U.S. Open, which was originally scheduled for June 18-21, is slated to go Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York as part of the 2020-2021 PGA Tour schedule.
5. MONDAY QUALIFIER
TOUGHER TO CRACK
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to Monday qualify, it seems.
Take the Korn Ferry’s Colorado Championship this week, as Golfworld points out.
There were four spots up for grabs at two different sites.
At the Highland Meadows Golf Club, a 64 only got you into a five-way playoff for two spots. That left three golfers not going through after shooting a 64.
At Riverdale Golf Club, a 61 got the medallist into this week’s Korn Ferry event. There was a two-man playoff at 64 for the fourth and final spot.
If that wasn’t enough, there were 13 players who shot 65 and didn’t even sniff those playoffs and another 18 golfers who shot 66 and weren’t even close.
Amazing.