Hearn ‘real close’ at 3-under in his first Open Championship
HOYLAKE, ENGLAND — David Hearn birdied the 16th and 18th holes Sunday and walked off Royal Liverpool for the last time, threeunder-par for the week — and still faintly dissatisfied with himself.
Maybe it’s because he didn’t get the full links experience in soft conditions for his first Open Championship, and thought he should have taken better advantage.
“I’ve always loved watching this tournament on TV, it was always fun waking up first thing in the morning, and just lying on the couch watching the British Open,” said Hearn, who put together a very even-keeled performance, shooting 70-73-71-71, tying for 32nd.
“So I don’t think it really caught me by surprise this week, except that we got as favourable conditions as you can get for an Open Championship. I can only remember maybe one year, when Tiger kind of blitzed around St. Andrews, that the scores were anywhere close to this.
“So I think I got a real soft introduction.”
Sunday was undoubtedly a day for scoring after a hard rain that fell just after Saturday’s round was completed, and Hearn rued a lot of missed putts.
“I was real close all week,” said the 35-year-old from Brantford, Ont. “Obviously I don’t think I was close enough to be contending for the championship right now, but even today, if I’d capitalized on a few more putts, I could have been up there in the top 10 in the mix, and I take away a lot of confidence.”
He’s been good in the majors the last couple of years — tied for 21st at the 2013 U.S. Open and tied for 47th at last year’s PGA, “and then this week, I was just sort of steady as she goes all week. I’m definitely getting better, and I do think my game is sort of tailored to major golf. I’m a guy who can make a lot of pars when you need to do that.”
He was headed for the charter flight in the evening that would take players directly to Montreal for this week’s RBC Canadian Open.
“We get kind of spoiled with the charter from here tonight, so I’m going to be nice and rested when the weekend rolls around,” he said.
“I haven’t seen Royal Montreal before so I’m really looking forward to get out there tomorrow. I get a quick look at the course in the pro-am and we’ll go from there. But I’m super excited about being in Montreal this year and hopefully I can continue my good play and have a good finish there.”