Donald looking to bounce back in Canada
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2011 RBC Canadian Open | Preview | 20 Jul 2011
The RBC Canadian Open is played this week in its now traditional time slot following the Open Championship and, although not the ideal scheduling for attracting the game’s leading players, the field assembled will delight tournament organisers.
The Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver has staged the Canadian Open on three previous occasions, the last being in 2005 when won by Mark Calcavecchia and this year will host the event as part of its 100th anniversary.
Luke Donald has made the trip back across the Atlantic after missing the cut at Royal St Georges but so too has Matt Kuchar, one of the game’s most consistent and successful performers until last week’s missed cut at the Open. Both players the only from the top ten playing this week but they are certainly not alone in winning chances.
Donald recorded a final round of 63 to win the Scottish Open two weeks ago and, although it might not have semed that way at the time, missing last weekend’s blustery conditions might work in his favour this week.
Kuchar was brilliant leading into last week and, like Donald, having last weekend off might well mean that he escaped from any scarring and it would be of no surprise if he quickly reverts to his previous form.
Rickie Fowler was very impressive last week at Royal St Georges and provided that his swing has not suffered too much from the rigours of the weekend he could potentially break through for his first PGA Tour victory this week.
Fowler and Anthony Kim are the leading players from last week in the field, both shared 5th position at The Open. For Kim it gave an indication he is back on track after a tough time following injury.
Charl Schwartzel did well enough last week when 16th. His weekend was ordinary but his overall 16th was a solid week and followed a 9th place finish at the US Open. Those two performances alone give him a chance this week but there is also the fact that he won a rather significant event in Augusta three months ago.
Ryan Moore might well be one for those looking for slightly longer odds. Moore finished runner-up to Calcavecchia in 2005 and has played well this season, missing only one cut in 15 starts. He opened and finished last week’s Open Championship with rounds of 69 and finished runner-up at the recent Travelers Championship.
The Australians in the field are headed in terms of world ranking by Geoff Ogilvy who is struggling with his game of late. He missed the cut at the Open and is in the middle of a horror run at present. Having now slipped to 12th in the Presidents Cup International Team standings there is a need for Ogilvy to reverse his form quickly.
From outside the top 10 in Presidents Cup standings he might yet have to rely on Greg Norman’s generosity for a place in the team and such might not be forthcoming if he is unable to find some form between now and selection time.
Other Australians teeing it up are Steven Bowditch, Jarrod Lyle, Aron Price, Matt Jones, former winner but currently out of form, Nathan Green, Cameron Percy, Greg Chalmers, Nick O’Hern, Stuart Appleby, Rod Pampling and Peter Lonard.
Lonard’s is an interesting story. He only gained a start at last week’s Viking Classic very late in the piece and did well to finish 9th after leading late on the final day. That earned him a start this week and so in his terms the dream of returning to the PGA Tour continues.
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