Canada awaiting next young golf star
Country’s fresh talent has yet to reach full fruition
OAKVILLE, The search for Canada’s golf saviour is a clouded one at best.
“I don’t know if that’s fair to put on anybody right now. I hope you don’t, for their sake,” said Mike Weir, the country’s most successful golfer. “I don’t know if you want to pick one guy, but there is definitely talent here.”
Since Weir’s victory at the 2003 Masters, six other countries — the United States, South Africa, Australia, Argentina, Ireland and Northern Ireland — have all won more than two major championships. Germany, England and Fiji have captured one each.
Majors aside, only one other Canadian has won a PGA tournament in the last decade.
Stephen Ames has four victories, including the Players Championship in 2006.
And, as it is often repeated this time of year, no Canadian has won the Canadian Open since Pat Fletcher in 1954. Weir came closest, losing in a playoff to Vijay Singh in 2004.
While Canada has a stronger infrastructure for young golfers, it has not produced consistent results at the professional level.
Ames, whose Stephen Ames Cup is geared to developing junior golf in Canada and Trinidad, sees areas for improvement.
“I think the models of Australia (and) Sweden are great models to follow, and Canada doesn’t do that,” he said. “I refer more to the fact of facilities for practising, having elite facilities within each province. That to me is a perfect model, what Sweden does, and it shows. Look at all the great players that have come out of Sweden.”
Sweden has never produced a major men’s winner, but does boast four players — Henrik Stenson, Peter Hanson, 2010 Canadian Open champion Carl Pettersson and Jonas Blixt — in the top 50 in the world ranking. Graham DeLaet, at 67th, is currently the only Canadian in the top 100. Weir was a regular in the top 10 from 2001-05, while Ames was in the top 30 from 2000-08.
At 43 and 49 years old, respectively, Weir and Ames are on their way out as the faces of the game in Canada. Golf Canada continues to try to build the foundation that will lead to a replacement, or many of them.
The national governing body has focused on creating programs that teach the fundamentals of the game.
This is done through the access to coaching and player development outlets throughout the 10 provincial divisions of Golf Canada.
“If you provide those people resources now, they could achieve their optimal performance sooner, faster, better and that’s the whole idea,” Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons said. “It’s not going to be the be-all and end-all to determine whether they’re going to succeed, but my point is when I talk to people is, ‘Aren’t they better off with it than without it?’ “
So far, some of the efforts have shown minor dividends. The Team Canada program for the country’s top amateurs has produced some of the talent Weir referred to. These players are slowly finding their footing on the Web. com Tour and the PGA Tour of Canada.
Team Canada has become the No. 1 place for male and female amateur golfers to hone their craft since its inception in 2003. Players are selected on an annual basis to the national or development team and are provided with guidance from professional coaches, given financial support and the opportunity to compete locally and internationally.
Mackenzie Hughes, an alumnus of Team Canada, turned pro last year and played on the PGA Tour of Canada after two straight Canadian amateur championships.
Could he be Canada’s next big thing?
“I’d like to establish myself … (as) being (a) reliable player and consistent player on the PGA Tour, whether that means I’m the best Canadian player or I’m one of the top three Canadian players,” the 22-year-old said on Thursday.
Albin Choi, one of Hughes’ former teammates, was hailed by Masters champion Charl Schwartzel as “hands down the best amateur I’ve played with by far” at last year’s Canadian Open. He won nine tournaments in his time at North Carolina State and was a semifinalist for the Ben Hogan award as the top NCAA golfer in 2012-13.
Could he be Canada’s next big thing?
“I would love to hear something like that,” said the 21-year-old, who missed the cut in his third Canadian Open. “It just means people have confidence in my game and I certainly do in my game, which is probably the most important factor, I believe. You just got to keep going and keep doing your thing.”
For now, the weight of Canadian expectations is on the likes of PGA Tour regulars Graham DeLaet, David Hearn and Brad Fritsch.
Hearn and Fritsch have shown flashes of competitiveness against golf’s elite, but it is DeLaet who has impressed most from week to week. Of the trio’s 19-career top-10 finishes, DeLaet has 11 of them.
“If you look at what DeLaet has done this year, he’s been very, very consistent,” Simmons said. “If you asked 100 Canadians who’s the horse that Canada is going to be looking at in a couple years, they’d probably say DeLaet.” DeLaet entered the week first on the PGA Tour in greens in regulation (71.62 per cent) this season, second in total driving and 14th in driving distance (299.7 yards). But at 30 years old, DeLaet is still looking for that breakthrough victory.