Hearn in contention for home-soil triumph at Canadian Open
On the penultimate hole of his Friday round at the RBC Canadian Open, David Hearn stood in the middle of the fairway after a 300-yard drive. He addressed his ball, then backed off, unsure of the strength of the wind.
Above him, a red balloon floated through the air from right to left, carried by a decent breeze. Hearn watched it. As wind gauges go, it was pretty effective. He stepped up, and hit his shot to the centre of the green, then rolled in a birdie putt.
He did the same thing on his final hole: fairway, green, putt, fist pump, birdie. With the hot finish, Hearn, the 36-year-old from Brantford, less than an hour’s drive from the Glen Abbey Golf Club, shot an 8-under 64 that put him at 11-under for the tournament, tied for third place after a day that offered near-perfect scoring conditions.
As omens go, you could do worse than the appearance of a red balloon on Red and White day at the national open to help the local guy go low.
“Making those two birdies at the finish felt really, really good,” Hearn said after his round. The 64 combined with his first round 69 on Thursday leaves him three shots back of the lead held by American Chad Campbell, who carded a 63 of his own to get to 14-under 130 at the midway point.
“So I’m happy with where my game’s at and excited for the weekend,” Hearn said.
Suddenly, it has become something of a pattern at the Canadian Open, the homegrown player who plays well enough to get himself in contention and rekindle chatter about whether this will be the year The Streak will finally be broken. It’s 61 years and counting since a Canadian, Montreal’s Pat Fletcher, won the national open.
Last year it was Weyburn, Sask. ’s Graham DeLaet who was two shots out entering the weekend at Royal Montreal. Three years ago it was Abbotsford, B.C.’s Adam Hadwin, one shot back after three rounds at Shaughnessy. Brights Grove, Ont. ’s Mike Weir held the lead early at Glen Abbey in 2009, and late here in 2004. None could quite close the deal.
Now it is Hearn’s turn to try. He knows it won’t be easy.
“I’m not going to be able to win the golf tournament until Sunday afternoon, so I’ve got a lot of golf to go,” said Hearn, who like a lot of players was wearing a red shirt on a day when organizers encouraged everyone to wear Canadian colours.
(Technically, Hearn’s shirt was a lighter hue, like a flag that has been faded by the sun, but the 64 gets him a pass on that mild transgression.)
“It’s really hard,” said Hearn about the prospects of winning here, and about winning a PGA tournament in general, something he has yet to do in 166 events that include two playoff losses.
“I haven’t been in this situation in the RBC Canadian Open before. So we’ll see how we do,” he said. “I feel like my game is in a good spot right now, and I have a chance to do something fun this weekend.”
There was plenty of fun to be had on Friday, with firm conditions repeatedly sending drives bounding down fairways and setting up birdie opportunities.
Aussie Jason Day, resplendent in a red shirt and white pants, started his round with three birdies, gave a couple back, then eagled the par-5 18th hole — his ninth — on the way to an eventful 66 that leaves him at 10-under for the tournament.
Day has quickly become a crowd favourite here, as Canadian Open galleries often embrace those they recognize from television, and all the better if he’s from the Commonwealth. “This is pretty neat,” the three-time Tour winner said of the adulation.
“I think the Canadian people are so nice. You just come up here and they’re so polite.”
With conditions growing tougher as the afternoon wore on, no one could topple Campbell from the top of the leaderboard heading into Saturday. Next best is Brian Harman of Savannah, Ga. who sits at 12 under 132 after shooting 67 on Friday. Johnson of Amarillo, Texas had 66 to go with his first round 67 to sit three back, tied with Hearn.
Campbell, the big Texan, who was ranked as high as 13th in the world in 2004 but had fallen to 397th by the end of last season, said his round was keyed by hitting straight drives on Glen Abbey’s four par-5s, each of which he managed with a two-putt birdie.
“It never really felt like it was going to be a crazy round, but with nine birdies I’m definitely happy with it,” he said.
Campbell is a perfect example of Hearn’s golf-is-hard point: four wins in a five-year span ending in 2007, and none since. Asked to explain his better play this year, Campbell said: “I wish I knew. I wish I had known a few years ago what it was.”
It really is a stupid game sometimes. Struggle, struggle, struggle, and then shoot a 63.
Hearn will hope for some of the latter on the weekend.
“I’m sure I’ll be nervous ... without a doubt,” he said. “It’s definitely going to be a lot of attention. Everyone wants the Canadians to do well here like I do. I want see a Canadian do well and win this tournament soon.”