– The twists and turns that life and golf can take. Last Friday, once the participant list for the RBC Canadian Open was closed, Cameron Champ (-12) appeared as the eighth alternate for the tournament. In other words, under normal circumstances, he could forget about even having a minimal chance to play on the North course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. However, the US Open qualifier held last Monday, which increased the chances of a player getting injured (it’s a very tough 36-hole day), as well as the proximity of the third Major of the year, which is played next week and can always disrupt a player’s plans, and certainly some lucky and random breaks, all these circumstances ended up bringing Champ to Canada, where he is currently leading the tournament after carding a 66 on Friday, with a two-shot lead over his closest pursuer, Andrew Putnam (-10), who also recorded the lowest score of the day (a round of 62 on this par 70).
– Rory McIlroy (+9) has today completed (and accentuated) the small calamity that has been his participation in this tournament, where he had collected so many successes in recent seasons. Before missing the cut by a wide margin this week, the Northern Irishman had played the Canadian Open four times, with two wins, a ninth place, and a fourth. This time he has ended up at the bottom of the table, with a poor tally of four birdies over 36 holes, also considering that the last two he made came today when he really had no chance of even getting into the weekend fight. The Masters winner is in a process of resetting and searching for motivation, after feeling somewhat empty following the Augusta epic, as he confessed. In this sense, the Canadian experience does not seem to have been positive, certainly, but rather quite the opposite. Oakmont is not a place one can arrive at with too many loose ends, and today Rory was simply dreadful in virtually all aspects of the game. Additionally, a quadruple bogey on the 5th hole, where he kept getting into trouble, each worse than the last, ultimately proved to be an insurmountable burden. Rory was not in the mood for epic comebacks this week…
It is very true that these players, who belong to such an absolutely superior category, do not need much to get in shape, but today, with the numbers in hand and the sensations his game has left, there is no choice but to reduce his chances of adding his sixth major next week at the Pittsburgh colossus.
McIlroy spoke to the media after today’s setback and did not hide some concern about what happened. “Yes, of course, I’m concerned. You don’t want to have a round with a score as high as I did today. I felt like I came here with a new driver, thinking it was going to help and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it hasn’t. Obviously, going to Oakmont next week, the most important thing there is hitting the fairways well. I’m still looking for that missing piece off the tee. For me, when that part of the game works, everything else falls into place. Right now, that’s not happening. Yes, it’s a concern for next week,” he noted.
– The average score has risen slightly today at TPC Toronto (almost a stroke), but Thorbjorn Olesen (-9), very honest, couldn’t quite find an explanation, beyond saying “it was a bit colder in the early hours of play, but it was only for an hour and then the conditions were very good,” explained the Dane. The fact is that the two leaders from Thursday, Olesen himself and the Chilean Del Solar (-8), were unable to beat the course today. It also doesn’t seem like the defending champion, Robert MacIntyre (-3), will be able to repeat this year after carding a 72 today.
– We should keep a close eye on Richard Lee (-9), a Canadian player who is in the tournament thanks to an invitation and who is currently making a good living in Asia, especially on the Asian Tour and the KPGA Tour, the Korean circuit where he has recently had very good performances, with a win and a second place. However, Nick Taylor (-9) seems to be the most reliable card for the local fans right now. Even two other Canadians like Pendrith (-7) or Hughes (-6) will still be able to push their chances over the weekend.
