Cypress tree claims JT’s golf ball at Harding Park

HAMILTON, Ontario – When Mackenzie Hughes was 14, he caddied during a practice round at the 2004 RBC Canadian Open and was fortunate enough to walk with a group that also included Mike Weir. The day was amazing for Hughes … but not so much for the player whose bag he was carrying. “I just remember that day picking (Weir’s) brain the entire time but being the worst caddie of all time,â€� Hughes recalled with a laugh. “I had no idea where my golfer was. I was just like, ‘Mike Weir is over here, I’m going to walk over here.’ “It was the best day ever for me.â€� Weir would go on that week to lose in a playoff to Vijay Singh, coming ever so close to become the first Canadian since Pat Fletcher in 1954) to win his country’s national open. Still, Weir was at the height of his popularity and success in Canada. He had been ranked No. 3 in the world and inspired a generation of Canadian golfers to pick up the sport, thinking that if a small guy from a small town could beat the world’s best, why couldn’t they? RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks | Conners on home turf in Canada | Tee times Fast-forward 15 years, and Hughes is still standing next to Weir asking questions – this time as a peer, a fellow winner on the PGA TOUR. Hughes, who captured The RSM Classic in 2016, is part of a contingent of Canadians who are finding success on the PGA TOUR, and beyond, at an unprecedented clip. Currently, there are 10 Canadians with TOUR membership, the most since 1970 when records were kept. Eight of those players are active most weeks: Hughes, Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor, Roger Sloan, David Hearn, Ben Silverman and Adam Svensson. The other two are Graham DeLaet, who is on a Major Medical exemption following microdiscectomy surgery and hopes to return later this year; and Weir, who has played mostly on the Web.com Tour this season (next May he turns 50 and will eligible for PGA TOUR Champions). Of the active Canadians, five are inside the top 125 of the FedExCup standings; only Australia (six) has more among the non-U.S. members. Conners and Hadwin are in the top 20 of the International Team standings for this year’s Presidents Cup and hope to make a big push down the stretch this season. And this week, 25 Canadians are scheduled to play at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, a healthy showing that includes established TOUR pros, up-and-comers and the country’s only major winner, as Weir makes his fourth TOUR start of the season. He’ll play the first two rounds at Hamilton with countrymen Taylor and Hearn. All in all … “Canadian golf is probably in the best place it’s been, ever, on the female and male side,â€� Hughes said. “It’s really cool to be a part of it, to be one of those guys who has a chance to compete and to win on the PGA TOUR.â€� There’s been a robust group of Canadians who have won TOUR-sanctioned events in the last five years, and that doesn’t include everything Brooke Henderson has done on the LPGA Tour. Just 21, she’s already won eight times. Her win total is tied for the most ever (with Weir, for one) LPGA or PGA TOUR titles by a Canadian. A sampling of the recent success: Hughes, Conners (2019), Hadwin (2017), and Taylor (2014) have all won on the PGA TOUR. Sloan (2014), Silverman (2017), Svensson (2018), and Michael Gligic (2019) have all won on the Web.com Tour – along with Hadwin in 2014 (twice) and Hughes in 2016 – and all will be in the field this week at the RBC Canadian Open. Not bad for a nation whose golf season is only about six months long – and that’s being generous. Some of the biggest names on the PGA TOUR, including 2017 FedExCup champion Justin Thomas, has recognized the success of the Canadians. Thomas, playing the Canadian Open for the first time (in fact, he had never been to Canada before this week) knows Conners from living near each other in Jupiter, Florida. He said Tuesday he was impressed at Conners’ mettle as he came down the stretch to win his first TOUR event. Conners “flushes it,â€� according to Thomas. Canadians are everywhere on TOUR, said Thomas. “There’s a lot of great past and a lot of great history,â€� Thomas said. “It seems like it’s only getting better and better each year.â€� Much of the recent Canadian success can be pined on Golf Canada and its national and developmental team program. It’s unique; even the United States doesn’t have something like it. The provincial organizations help identify star players – Canada has produced Drive, Chip, and Putt National Champions in two different age groups the last two years, for example – and they get recruited into a program that helps with on-course coaching and off-course development. Jeff Thompson, the Chief Sport Officer for Golf Canada – akin to the United States Golf Association – said with a laugh that “unfortunatelyâ€� other countries are starting to pick up on the developmental program idea that started 15 years ago. “We can see it at international events. Those players from countries like Scotland, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, and Denmark are getting better,â€� he said. But not everyone was part of the team. Silverman was never part of the program. Hearn attended a few camps at the beginning of his career but wasn’t as involved as some others. Raw talent will always be the thing that separates the “pretty goodâ€� from the “really special.â€� And right now, Canada is going through a special time in professional golf – with more in the pipeline. Jared du Toit, for example, played in the final group of the 2016 RBC Canadian Open as an amateur. There are a handful of Canadian amateurs this week, including three who are part of Golf Canada’s national squad – Joey Savoie of Quebec, Josh Whalen of Ontario, and Chris Crisologo of B.C. (last year’s Low Amateur at the Canadian Open). “Those amateurs can really play,â€� said Gligic, on track to earn his PGA TOUR card for next season. “You’ve seen Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners climb those (amateur) ranks and now they’re PGA TOUR winners. I’m pretty confident those amateurs will do well. They’ve played well in the past and they’re all good players and you can expect them to do good things.â€� Last year, Gligic was the Canada Life Canadian Player of the Year on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada – another example of how development has been impacted on Canadian soil. The Tour, brought under the PGA TOUR umbrella in 2013, has produced such notable alums as both Conners and Hughes (the 2013 Player of the Year) along with helping to groom non-Canadian stars such as TOUR Rookie of the Year Aaron Wise, Tony Finau, and others. Most weeks on the Mackenzie Tour, you’ll see Canadian amateurs and professionals mixing it up with some of the biggest names in golf who are just getting their careers off the ground. This week will showcase the impact of Canadian golf at the highest level. “We used to feel that it would be nice to see a Canadian on the leaderboard,â€� Thompson said, “but it’s changed now, where we expect it.â€�

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Round 3 of the Valero Texas Open takes place Saturday from TPC San Antonio. It’s the 100th anniversary of the event. Ryan Palmer takes a two-shot lead into the weekend and looks to pick up his first TOUR title since 2019. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE and newly expanded and extended coverage on ESPN+. Click here for more details. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 4 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3:30 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 1 p.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.–7 p.m. ET. Saturday, 3 p.m.–6 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m.–6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes FEATURED GROUPS SATURDAY Marquee Group Jordan Spieth, Chad Ramey, Jim Herman Featured Groups Maverick McNealy, Zach Johnson, Aaron Baddeley Richy Werenski, Keegan Bradley, Andrew Putnam Featured Holes: No. 3 (par 3), No. 7 (par 3), No. 13 (par 3), No. 16 (par 3) BONUS ESPN+ COVERAGE Jhonattan Vegas, Peter Uihlein, Rasmus Hojgaard Doc Redman, J.T. Poston, Henrik Stenson MUST READS Ryan Palmer holds two-shot lead at Valero Texas OpenTop 10 Valero Texas Open events Ben Martin sees bigger picture at Valero Texas Open Inside the history of the Valero Texas Open Q&A: Ben Crenshaw

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Martin Piller … Among the handful in the field able to sleep in their own beds in the Metroplex during this fortnight, he’s coming off a front-loaded T21 at Trinity Forest where he crafted a career-low 63 in the second round. It was his fourth top 25 of the season, the last two of which in his native Texas. The bigger news, however, is that he’s now making his third start as a first-time father who has all but sewn up his TOUR card for next season. With all kinds of positive mojo flowing, the 32-year-old can further lean on the vibes of a T6 in his debut at Colonial in 2016. Nick Watney … He locked up his card for next season with a co-runner-up performance at the Wells Fargo Championship three weeks ago, but he was already piecing together a respectful season, albeit sans the spike. Owns a consecutive cuts made streak of 12 as he prepares for his seventh appearance at Colonial. Seeking his first top 25 in the tournament, his approach game and putting are poised to produce like they did at Quail Hollow en route to leading the field in greens in regulation while ranking T4 in proximity to the hole and seventh in strokes gained: putting. Currently a respective T61, T3 and 47th in those three stats for the season. Danny Lee … Casual fans would have missed his runs at the Houston Open, RBC Heritage and Valero Texas Open because of massive Sunday fades, but devotees of consuming earlier action were not surprised to see him put all four rounds together at THE PLAYERS for a season-best-tying T7. The turnaround in general over his last six starts was due almost entirely to improved putting. He’s shaved 0.887 strokes per round on the greens and climbed 104 spots in strokes gained: putting to his current position of T89. Now the local resident gets another opportunity to sink his teeth into Colonial where he’s 5-for-5 with a T10, T22 and solo sixth in the last three editions. David Lingmerth … This endorsement likely hinges on him securing a tee time in the final round, and that’s not intended to be humorous. In four previous appearances at Colonial, he’s scored 65, 66, 65 and 67 to finish a respective T18, T5, T33 and T12. Contrarily, in nine final rounds in 15 starts this season, he’s manufactured only three red numbers and hasn’t logged a top 25 in over six months. As one of the most accurate off the tee, the 30-year-old will need to lean on his comfort level over current form. David Hearn … As the third alternate at the commitment deadline, this is a bonus start in a 121-man invitational. So, even though he’s 148th in the FedExCup standings, he might feel like he’s playing on house points. Even better, Colonial is the kind of place where he projects to collect, too. A regular here since 2011, he’s scattered three top 25s among six cuts made. His record also includes a career-low-tying 64 in the opening round of 2013 (the only edition in which he’s missed a cut). Lined up similarly well as a course horse at TPC Louisiana a month ago and tied for 10th with partner Seamus Power. The 38-year-old Canadian also fits the profile in Fort Worth, slotting 12th on TOUR in fairways hit and second in proximity to the hole.

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