First Round Leader: Pebble Beach Pro-Am gives three chances to collect

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If you’ve ever wondered what Collin Morikawa’s game would look like with a little extra length off the tee, you may find out this week. Morikawa has put TaylorMade’s new Stealth Plus in the bag for this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, and the club has given him approximately 3 mph in extra ball speed. It’s the first time in nearly two years that Morikawa has switched drivers. The Stealth Plus and its carbon face are replacing the SIM driver he used to win both of his major titles. Morikawa’s iron play always earns attention. He led the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach last season, but if you can say there’s a shortcoming in the game of the world’s second-ranked player, it’s a lack of length compared to his peers. Morikawa ranked 112th in driving distance (295.2 yards) last season. “I’ve actual seen some increases in ball speed. … This is the first time where I’ve actually seen that jump, which has been great,” Morikawa said Wednesday from Kapalua. “Any time you can get a little more ball speed, get a little more distance, it’s going to be helpful. “I haven’t gotten that much stronger, I haven’t gotten that much bigger — but to get that just little extra out of it, it’s going to be beneficial sometimes on certain holes.” TaylorMade’s Stealth line gained attention when Tiger Woods put it in the bag for last month’s PNC Championship. This is the first week the club is being used on the PGA TOUR. The new line uses 60 layers of carbon in its red-and-black face instead of the traditional titanium. Woods also used a Stealth Plus, which is the line’s lowest-spinning model and has a sliding weight track on the sole to allow players to control shot shape. “The feel is there, which is great. … The first two things that we look at is feel and sight,” Morikawa said. “The red face took me five hits. (I) don’t even think about it anymore, I think it looks so clean. The carbon, it creates a feel that normally you would feel off a titanium face.” Ryan Ressa, TaylorMade’s Senior Manager of Player Development, said Morikawa’s ball speed with his previous driver was approximately 170-172 mph. Now it’s around 174.5-176 mph. Morikawa’s spin rate with both clubs ranges between 2,200-2,400 rpm and his launch angle is still around 10 degrees. “It’s almost the same as his driver he’s loved for the last two years, but a bit faster,” Ressa said. “The big thing is he’s seeing his stock left-to-right shot on command. His control with it is really good.” Said Morikawa, “Knowing that I can trust a driver that’s not … going to go left, I can hit my left-to-right cut shot and just be able to hit that everywhere we go, it’s really crucial for me. … So far what I’ve seen in this short, short time it’s already beaten what I’ve had in the past.”

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It’s been some time since a Canadian has won the RBC Canadian Open. It was 1954 when Pat Fletcher hoisted the trophy, and even longer – 1914 to be exact – since a Canadian-born player won the tournament (Fletcher was born in England). But despite that lengthy drought, there has been no shortage of excellent Canadian performances on golf’s biggest stages. Between TOUR victories, generational inspiration, and Hall of Fame resumes, Canada has a strong legacy in the game. As part of our preparation for the first RBC Canadian Open in three years, let’s take a closer look at the top 10 players in the country’s history. Then we can watch the strong current crop of Canadians – including Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin — compete at St. George’s Golf & Country Club. 10. Stan Leonard A three-time PGA TOUR winner, Stan Leonard was a celebrated professional who racked up 38 wins across Alberta, British Columbia, and nationally. He was six-time winner of the PGA of Canada’s national championship – which celebrates its 100th playing in 2022 – and was the low Canadian at the Canadian Open eight times. Leonard won the 1957 Greater Greensboro Open (now the Wyndham Championship), the 1958 Tournament of Champions (now the Sentry Tournament of Champions), and the 1960 Western Open. Leonard, who was inducted in into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1972, also finished inside the top 10 at the Masters three years in a row. No Canadian had accomplished that until Corey Conners did it earlier this spring. Leonard was also inducted into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame, the BC Sports Hall of Fame, the BC Golf Hall of Fame, and the PGA of Canada Hall of Fame. 9. Al Balding Balding was a four-time winner on the PGA TOUR and his victory in 1955 at the Mayfair Inn Open was the first by a Canadian in the United States. Two years later he finished sixth on the PGA TOUR’s money list – the highest of any Canadian before or since. He also lost in three TOUR playoffs. One of those losses, at the 1964 Fresno Open Invitational, came to fellow Canadian George Knudson. Balding was a multi-time PGA of Canada champion and won the World Cup alongside Knudson in 1968. His best result at a major was a T8 at The Open Championship. He backed that up with another top-10 finish the next year. Balding was inducted into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 1968, the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame in 2000, the PGA of Canada Hall of Fame in 2014, and Canada’s Golf Hall of Fame in 1985. 8. Stephen Ames Ames was born in Trinidad & Tobago – his grandmother was a champion golfer in his native country – but became a Canadian citizen in 2005. Ames turned professional in 1987 and has won on every TOUR level. His four wins on the PGA TOUR was highlighted by his victory at the 2006 PLAYERS Championship. “This is big,” said Ames at the time. “Forty-eight or 49 of the top 50 players were playing? I beat the top players in the world this week.” Ames, who won on the Korn Ferry Tour and the DP World Tour before notching his first TOUR title, would go on to win twice more on the PGA TOUR (the Children’s Miracle Network Classics in both 2007 and 2009). He’s also a two-time winner on PGA TOUR Champions. Ames had six top-10 finishes at majors in his career and was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2014. 7. Moe Norman Tiger Woods once said Norman (and Ben Hogan) were the only two golfers in history who have truly “owned” their swings. Sam Snead said Norman was golf’s greatest striker of the ball. The accolades about Norman’s ball-striking prowess continued until his death in 2004, but not before he racked up 55 wins on the old Canadian Tour, the PGA of Canada, and more. He was also the Canadian Men’s Amateur Champion in 1955 and 1956. Norman played 27 events on TOUR (his highest finish was a fourth-place result at the New Orleans Open in 1959) along with five on PGA TOUR Champions. He made 25 of 27 cuts on TOUR and made two starts at the Masters. He was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1995 and Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 2006. Norman’s idiosyncrasies – many attribute it to not receiving proper medical treatment after a car accident when he was 5 or to an autism spectrum disorder – may have caused his TOUR career to be short, but his return to his native Ontario saw him become one of the most beloved characters in the country’s golf history. 6. Lorie Kane Kane was a celebrated youngster growing up on Prince Edward Island, wining the PEI Junior Girls’ Championship twice and the province’s Women’s Amateur nine times. She played basketball at Acadia University as well before turning professional in golf in 1993 and earning LPGA Tour status three years later. She captured the PGA of Canada’s Women’s Championship each year from 1996-1999 and again in 2001 – the year after she won three times on the LPGA Tour. Kane’s 2000 campaign on the LPGA Tour saw her win the Michelob Light Classic, the New Albany Golf Classic, and the Mizuno Classic. Kane, who also has 14 career runner-up finishes on the LPGA Tour, was the second Canadian in the LPGA Tour’s history to have a multiple win season and her three-win campaign saw her win the Canadian Female Athlete of the Year title. Kane’s off-course accolades are numerous. She was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2015, Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 2021, and was named to the Order of Canada (the second-highest honor for a civilian in Canada) in 2006. 5. Marlene Stewart Streit Streit is one of the most accomplished amateur golfers in the history of the game – regardless of country. She is the only golfer to have won the U.S., British, Australian, and Canadian Amateur Championships along with dozens of other high-level amateur events across Canada and around the world. She is the only Canadian in the World Golf Hall of Fame and the only golfer in the country’s history to be named Canada’s Athlete of the Year more than once. Streit is a four-time winner of Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year title, was given the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario, and was inducted into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 1962 – when she was only 28 years old. She showed no signs of slowing down as she’s advanced in age, either. Streit won the 2003 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur at age 69 – the oldest champion in the tournament’s history. 4. George Knudson Knudson won eight times on the PGA TOUR in an 11-year span and was the winningest Canadian in the TOUR’s history for more than three decades. His winning resume as a professional is robust – both at home and abroad – as an individual and as part of a team. He represented Canada in the World Cup nine times, winning as an individual in 1966 and with Balding as a team in 1968. Knudson had one of the silkiest swings in Canadian golf history and he wielded it to win five PGA of Canada National Championship titles and earn low Canadian honors at the Canadian Open five times. He was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1986 and Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 1969. 3. Sandra Post Post was the first Canadian to achieve several milestones on the LPGA Tour. She was the first Canadian to play the LPGA Tour and as a rookie, in 1968, she won a major championship (the then-LPGA Championship). She was, at the time, the youngest golfer to win a women’s major. Her young age (20 years, 20 days) would not be topped by a women’s major winner until 2007. Post would go on to win eight times on the LPGA Tour and was the first Canadian to win more than once in the same season – a feat she accomplished twice, in both 1978 and 1979. She was a celebrated junior and amateur golfer in Ontario and decided to skip college. The decision turned out to be the right one, as she won Rookie of the Year honors in her debut season. Post, who was named Canada’s Athlete of the Year in 1979, was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1988 and bestowed the Order of Canada in 2004. 2. Mike Weir Canada’s most celebrated male golfer is also responsible for inspiring the current generation of TOUR starsA. Almost every golf fan in the country can recall where they were when Weir captured the Green Jacket in 2003, becoming the first Canadian male to win a major. Weir won eight times on the PGA TOUR including a World Golf Championship and the TOUR Championship in 2000 and 2001, respectively. His Masters title came in his three-win season of 2003. That year Weir made it to third in the world and was named Canada’s Athlete of the Year. Weir played on five Presidents Cup teams and has been an assistant captain in 2017, 2019, and 2022. He received the Order of Canada in 2009 and was inducted into Canada’s Golf Hall of Fame the same year. He was inducted into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 2017 and has seen a career resurgence since joining PGA TOUR Champions. He won for the first time on the over-50 circuit last year and continues to be a threat when he tees it up. 1. Brooke Henderson The only golfer on this list not to be inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame has still had the greatest career of them all. And the reason why she’s not a Hall of Famer yet? Because she’s only 24. Henderson, who has won 10 times on the LPGA Tour, is the winningest Canadian of all time on either the LPGA or PGA Tour. She’s won one major so far – the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – along with the CP Women’s Open in 2018, becoming the first Canadian to win on home soil since Jocelyne Bourassa in 1973. Henderson’s amateur career peaked when she was ranked as the No.1 amateur in the world in 2014. She skipped college and turned professional, winning her first event on the LPGA Tour in 2015 by eight strokes at just 17 years old. She was named Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018, won an ESPY Award in 2019 as the ‘Best Female Golfer’ and earned the LPGA Founders Award that same year. And, well, she’s just getting started.

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