Glen Abbey hosts Canadian Open
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2009 Canadian Open | Preview | 22 Jul 2009
The Canadian Open is next on the PGA Tour schedule with many of those players who battled Turnberry last week getting straight back on the horse to face yet another fine test of golf.
The Jack Nicklaus designed layout at Glen Abbey in Mississauga, on the outskirts of Toronto, plays host to the event for the 25th occasion.
Last year Chez Reavie fought back from a shaky start to his final round to win his first PGA Tour event in his rookie season. In 28 starts since however Reavie has been unable to record one top ten on the PGA Tour and appears unlikely to feature this week despite his comfort zone with Glen Abbey.
Anthony Kim had a share of the lead early in the final round last year before fading and it was Billy Mayfair who finished in second place three shots behind. Kim missed the cut last week at Turnberry but back on more familiar territory he could regain the form which saw him playing well prior to heading to Scotland.
Mike Weir will again face the pressure of winning his own national open for the first time. He lost a playoff to Vijay Singh here at Glen Abbey in 2004 and although he missed the cut at the Open last week there was enough to like about the manner in which he was playing to contend again.
Steve Marino finished third last year and must surely break through for his first win before long. He shared the lead the Open at the halfway mark last week before eventually finishing 38th but his runner up finish to Steve Stricker in Fort Worth is perhaps a better indication of his capabilities.
Retief Goosen stumbled late at the Open when he looked a genuine contender for the title but still managed to finish 5th. He has played the event just once in the past 13 years when he finished 30th following a third round of 65 in 2008. Goosen has been outstanding in the last few weeks and did win earlier in the season at the Transitions event.
John Mallinger is a little like Marino in that he keeps threatening to win without doing so. He lost a playoff last week in Milwaukee and despite missing the cut last year in this event he did not play badly. He played very well at the Players Championship and finished 6th in Houston on a high quality layout and so a breakthrough win would be both deserved and not unexpected.
Bryce Molder has finally found his feet on the PGA Tour with several very good finishes of late. He had a good week at the Open Championship a third round of 67 to best of the day and brilliant in the conditions. He eventually finished 43rd but it followed a great run in recent weeks.
The Australian challenge is strong both numerically and in its chances of victory. Mathew Goggin went so close to his first PGA Tour win last week and for that matter his first major championship when he finished 5th at Turnberry. Goggin played very well at Glen Abbey in his first visit in 2000 before finishing 32nd. If not too fatigued and let down as a result of his final day peformance at The Open Championship last week he could do well.
Aaron Baddeley, Jason Day, John Senden, Stuart Appleby, Nick O’Hern, Greg Chalmers, Steve Elkington, Peter Lonard, Nathan Green, Matt Jones and Steve Allan are other leading Australian chances.
