Canadian Hearn (fifth) major player at cozy TPC Sawgrass
It was a happy coincidence earlier this week when the Stanley Cup made a stop at The Players Championship.
There were four Canadians in the opening-round field at the PGA Tour event sometimes billed as golf’s fifth major. All of them are hockey fans. But perhaps none can claim as close a con- nection to the silver chalice as David Hearn, the PGA Tour player from Brantford.
Hearn’s wife, Heather, is a granddaughter of Doug Harvey, the late Hockey Hall of Famer who had his name etched on the Cup six times as a member of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1950s. So even if David happens to be a Maple Leafs fan, it clearly means something to him that the family’s three children — the third of which, son Hudson, was born last month — share a bloodline with at least one Canadian sporting champion. And, maybe one day, two.
Hearn, though he’s a veteran pro at age 37, is still searching for his first victory on the PGA Tour. But by Friday afternoon, after he shot a three-underpar round of 69 to move to five under for the tournament and briefly held the clubhouse lead, he was certainly in the thick of contention heading into the weekend. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., who was tied for the lead after a first-round 67, fell down the leaderboard after a second-round 75.
Hearn’s taking TPC by storm after falling in love with Stadium Course and buying a little family time with Stanley
Fellow Canadians Adam Hadwin and Graham DeLaet, who shot first-round scores of 71 and 74, respectively, were attempting to move up the leaderboard into Friday evening.
“I’ve always felt like I have the game to win out here,” Hearn told reporters on Friday. “It’s been a long period for me, I guess. I’ve come close a few times, but it’s bound to happen here some time . . . I’m in a great position heading into the weekend.”
The Players, with its $10.5-million purse and $1.9-million winner’s share, is renowned for attracting the best field in global golf. And given that Hearn came into the week as the world No. 203, that makes him a massive underdog — the approximate opposite of Harvey, the seventime Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defenceman, who skated alongside teammates such as Rocket Richard and Jean Beliveau during a dynastic rule of the NHL.
Still, Hearn is no stranger to the PGA Tour cauldron. Twice he’s found his way into playoffs for a PGA Tour title, at the 2015 Greenbrier and the 2013 John Deere Classic; both times he ended up tied for second. And it was only back in 2015 that he took a lead into the final round of the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey, only to finish third after Jason Day outsprinted Bubba Watson for the biggest cheque.
“I really wouldn’t do much different if I was in those playoffs (again),” Hearn said. “I think I’ve just got to do a better job of putting myself in those positions more often, and if I give myself more chances to win it’s going to happen.”
Certainly this week’s venue appears favourable. Ralph Bauer, Hearn’s long-time coach, said that when Hearn first learned he’d be among the field of the 2012 edition of The Players, Hearn, who had never played the famed Stadium Course before, travelled to TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., for a three-day pre-tournament “training camp.”
“As soon as he played a round of golf he said, ‘Wow. This course is perfect for me,’ ” Bauer, who is based in Turkey Point, Ont., said in an interview. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, it is.’ ”
Hearn has enjoyed at least modest success on the layout ever since, finishing under par for the tournament in each of the past four years and tying for sixth back in 2014.
“I think I just really enjoy the patience that this golf course requires, and I don’t know, I just enjoy it,” Hearn said. “Some guys, I think, cringe at the idea of this golf course, and I just try to embrace it.”
On Friday, Hearn told The Golf Channel that he views an eventual victory on tour as “inevitable.” In his quest for success, Hearn recently added another member to his support team. Jeff Leishman, a native of Alliston, Ont., who lives in Florida, recently began work as Hearn’s full-swing coach. Bauer, who advised Hearn on all aspects of his approach for most of a decade, now concentrates on the short game. Both Leishman and Bauer each coach a separate stable of other touring pros.
“It’s not a swing rebuild or anything like that,” Leishman said. “I’ve always had a strong relationship with Ralph, and I know Ralph very well. So it’s more of a collaborative effort now, and not that I’m doing something significantly different than what Ralph did — which, in my experience, is when it works best. Because then you have continuity, and you don’t have conflicting information when somebody already has a really good plan.”
Hearn’s plan will likely only be widely lauded as successful if he eventually finds a way to hoist a trophy at golf’s top level. Since he began competing regularly no fewer than three Canadian 20-somethings — Hughes, Hadwin and Nick Taylor — have claimed tour wins. But the big breakthrough has continued to elude both DeLaet, 35, and Hearn.
“I think Graham and I, as we’re getting a little bit older, we want to get one under our belt, too,” Hearn said.
Perhaps Hearn’s run-in with the Cup, wherein he posed for cameras while searching out the many engravings of Doug Harvey’s legendary name, will rub off.