Sungjae Im impresses at Wyndham Championship

THE OVERVIEW OAKVILLE, Ontario — Although Glen Abbey Golf Club is hosting this week’s RBC Canadian Open for the 29th time — and for the fourth time in five years – PGA TOUR pros think the venerable Jack Nicklaus design will offer a different challenge this time. “It’s a completely different golf course this year,â€� Canada native Graham DeLaet said. “The rough is thick, it’s not super long, but around the greens there’s kind of dodgy lies here and there.â€� The Greater Toronto Area experienced a drought a year ago, causing Glen Abbey to burn out in some places. That forced the players to adjust for how far their balls were running out on the fairways. This year, the Oakville area has experienced near-record rainfall totals in 2017, forcing the players to make a 180-degree adjustment. A year ago, DeLaet had a 346-yard drive on the par-4 10th in the second round, leaving him less than 100 yards to the pin. He doesn’t anticipate getting that close this week. During practice on Tuesday, he hit driver and then a full wedge with his second shot. Although the course is playing differently this year, fellow Canadian Nick Taylor says it’s in the best shape he’s ever seen it. Jhonattan Vegas, who won here in 2016 on the heels of an 8-under 64 on Sunday, acknowledged that the course is a lot softer than last year but is excited to get going again. He said Glen Abbey is a course where he feels comfortable. He also said golfers will have to adapt to the course conditions this week. “You’re going to have to fly things right next to the hole,â€� Vegas said. “Especially some of these holes around here, where some of those pin positions are so protected from bunkers and water … you’re going to have to hit your irons really well to score. But obviously that opens up a lot of opportunities, as well. So I think you’re going to see low scores again.â€�  THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER THE FLYOVER Last week, Royal Birkdale had two par 5s in its last four holes. This week, Glen Abbey offers two par 5s among its last three holes, including the finishing hole. The 524-yard 18th played to a stroke average of 4.585, just a shade tougher than the 516-yard 16th. Here’s a closer look at the 18th. THE LANDING ZONE The 457-yard par-4 14th was the most difficult hole on the course last year, playing to a stroke average of 4.422. That made it the ninth toughest par 4 on the PGA TOUR last season. Players have to navigate Sixteen Mile Creek that runs alongside the dogleg-right fairway, as well as try to avoid the bunkers on the far side, making it an especially tight landing zone. Check out where all tee shots landed last year. WEATHER CHECK It’s been a very wet year in the Oakville area, part of the Greater Toronto Area. No surprise that rain is in the forecast for at least one day this week. TEMPS: In the high 60s/low 70s, so expect pleasant temperatures this week. Humidity will be highest in the opening round RAIN: Expected to rain on Thursday, but the other three days might be relatively dry. WINDS: Shouldn’t be much of a factor, with the middle two rounds creeping over 10 mph speeds. For the latest weather news from Oakville, Ontario, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK If I’m ever going to win one of these, it better be soon, because obviously the times that I’m going to play are running out. But there’s obviously a lot of other great Canadians coming up. ODDS AND ENDS 1. CANADIAN HOPEFULS. There are 17 Canadians in the field this week – Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor, Graham DeLaet, Mackenzie Hughes, Mike Weir, David Hearn, Daniel Kim, Jared du Toit, Brad Fritsch, Riley Wheeldon, Matt Hill, Bryn Parry, Ryan Williams, Drew Nesbitt, and amateurs Garrett Rank, Hugo Bernard and Austin James. These are the guys who hope to become the first Canadian winner of their national Open since Pat Fletcher in 1954. Hadwin and Hughes have already won on TOUR this season. 2. MACKENZIE TOUR EXEMPTIONS. The top-three players in the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit earned exemptions into this week’s event – Americans Robby Shelton ($55,473), Johnny Ruiz ($54,413) and Kramer Hickock ($47,719). Each has won on the Mackenzie Tour this season. Incidentally, Hickok is a roommate of Open Championship winner Jordan Spieth in Dallas. With Spieth not in the field, Hickok will represent the house. 3. 20-SOMETHINGS ON A ROLL. With Spieth and Grayson Murray (Barbasol Championship) winning last week, that means the last eight tournaments have been won by players in their 20s. That’s the longest streak by the 20-somethings ever on the PGA TOUR. 4. FURYK LOVES CANADA. Jim Furyk has played 31 of his last 34 rounds at the RBC Canadian Open in par or better, including his last 19 rounds. No player has won more money in this event that Furyk at $3,129,703 in 14 appearances. WATCH THE PREVIEW

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One of the PGA TOUR’s most famed and historic tracks, The Riviera Country Club has been providing Hollywood-caliber drama for almost a century. With an iconic bunker in the middle of a green, a natural amphitheater and one of the world’s most recognizable short par-4s, Riviera demands a variety of shots to conquer its terrain. Coming off Max Homa’s playoff win over Tony Finau in 2021, this year’s edition will have its hands full to live up to the hype. But with one of the strongest fields on the PGA TOUR so far this season, a new star can join Riviera’s Walk of Fame (and win at a course that has befuddled the two greatest players in the game’s history). 1. WHAT A START The first hole at Riviera is an early feast opportunity for PGA TOUR players. The par 5 plays roughly 495 yards from a tee box that sits 75 foot above the fairway. While there’s out-of-bounds on the left and trees on the right, a straight drive should offer an eagle opportunity all four days. Only four par-5s played to a lower scoring average (4.28) last season, and it was the easiest opening hole on TOUR in 2021. It traditionally plays as the easiest hole at Riviera, as well. The difficulty dramatically shifts right after. The second hole, the No. 1 handicap hole, presents a 488-yard par 4 that heads back uphill, again with out-of-bounds on the left and trees on the right. A long, narrow green is just 25 feet wide and protected by bunkers on the left and front. Despite having different pars, the scoring averages for the two holes are usually separated by just a fraction of a stroke. They played to an average of 4.28 and 4.15, respectively, in 2021. While Riviera’s greens are the same Poa annua that players face throughout the West Coast, the Kikuyu fairways and rough offer a unique challenge. The sticky Kikuyu grass grabs balls like Velcro and makes it hard to execute bump-and-run shots around Riviera. 2. IN THE MIDDLE You do this if you are creating a golf course in a video game, but not usually if you are an architect building a PGA TOUR-caliber track. Long before video games existed, George C. Thomas Jr. and William P. Bell had a unique vision for Riviera’s par-3 sixth hole, putting what is now one of the world’s most famous bunkers smack in the middle of the green. If having a sand trap in the middle of the green is not enough, the putting surface is also two-tiered with a lower level mostly in front of the bunker and an upper level mostly behind the bunker. An errant tee shot, even just a few feet off-line, could find a player scrambling to putt around or pitch over the trap, even needing to pull out a wedge from the putting surface. There is no true safe shot on the green, as all four quadrants bring the center bunker into play. And that is before mentioning there are other bunkers in the back, left and front portions of the green. Birdie is manageable when on the correct tier of the green, but the landing spot can determine the difference between a two or a four quickly. 3. MUST-SEE TV Drivable par 4s are en vogue these days and perhaps No. 10 at Riviera sets the standards for those holes. Measuring anywhere from 282 to 315 yards, most players can hit the green if the conditions are right. However, such a tee shot challenges even the best shot-shapers in the world, with bunkers protecting the green on its right, left and back. The combination of deep bunkers and a skinny putting surface make getting up-and-down difficult, especially from the sand. Right-handed players will try to launch a power-fade, while left-handed players need to sweep a draw to the front-left portion of the green. The lay-up shot isn’t forgiving. A bunker running across the left portion of the fairway forces players to lay up to a full wedge shot if not going for the green. A handful of trees also run along the fairway left of the green. Homa famously found his ball lying next to one of those trees during the first playoff hole against Finau last year, but Homa was able to skip a shot out and match Finau with a par. Unlike No. 17 at TPC Scottsdale, where a water hazard provides penalty trouble for those taking a shot at the green (as Sahith Theegala found out last week), trees and bunkers are the issue on this drivable par 4. A miscue left or right off the tee and a player can go from envisioning eagle to scrambling for par, even without a penalty stroke. 4. HOLLYWOOD DRAMA Riviera is truly one of the OG staples of the Los Angeles social scene. The Hollywood sign – then Hollywoodland – was erected in 1923. Riviera opened its doors in 1926. At the time, with a cost of $243,827, Riviera was labeled as one of the most expensive golf courses in the world. The club has long-attracted famous members, with such Hollywood names as Humphrey Bogart, Walt Disney and Dean Martin making the course their home (“Bogey’s Tree,” a trimmed Eucalyptus on the 12th hole is allegedly where Bogart used to sit to heckle pros). In the 1950s, golf films “Pat and Mike” – starring Katharine Hepburn and Babe Zaharias – and “The Caddy” – starring Martin and Jerry Lewis – were both filmed at Riviera. “Follow the Sun,” a 1951 biographical film about Ben Hogan, was also taped at Riviera. And in more modern times, Seinfeld co-creater and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David helped raise money for the club’s caddies during the pandemic. The Genesis Invitational has been held at Riviera dating all the way back to 1929, hosting the event all but two years since 1973. The exceptions were in 1983, when the club hosted the PGA Championship, and in 1998, when it hosted the U.S. Senior Open. Riviera also has been the venue for the 1948 U.S. Open, 1995 PGA Championship, and 2017 U.S. Amateur. It is scheduled to host the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open, as well. The club will add Olympic golf to its history at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, although this won’t be the Olympics’ first foray on the grounds. Dressage equestrian and modern pentathlon were held at Riviera in 1932. Living up to its Hollywood pedigree, the 18th hole green is surrounded by a natural amphitheater, creating golf’s version of the Hollywood Bowl. As players stare down the 18th green, with Riviera’s iconic clubhouse in the background, the gallery seated on the hillside is staring directly down at them. 5. HOGAN’S ALLEY, BUT NO TIGER OR JACK Ben Hogan was one of Riviera’s early heroes, winning the Genesis Invitational at Riviera in 1947 and 1948 and the U.S. Open there in 1948. His dominance during that two-year stretch gave the course the nickname, “Hogan’s Alley,” a moniker it shares with Colonial Country Club for a similar reason. Hogan also finished runner-up in 1950, losing a playoff to Sam Snead in his return to the TOUR after his near-fatal car accident. Snead, Tom Watson, Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson all also notched multiple wins at Riviera over the next few decades. Nick Faldo, Ernie Els, Mike Weir, Adam Scott, and Dustin Johnson are among other modern winners. But the two jarring names you will not find on the champions’ plaque: Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Nicklaus made his professional debut at Riviera in 1962, tying for 50th place as a 21-year-old, earning $33.33 in prize money. He notched his best finish in 1978, grabbing runner-up honors two strokes behind Gil Morgan. Woods made his PGA TOUR debut at Riviera in 1992, driving up from Orange County as a 16-year-old high school sophomore (and amateur). He missed the cut. Woods’ best finish at Riviera was second in 1999, behind Els by two strokes. Since 2016, Woods has been the host of the Genesis Invitational with his TGR Foundation being the benefiting charity. But despite his connection to the course, Riviera is a place Woods has still never been able to lift a PGA TOUR trophy.

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Through two rounds of the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP the leading Japanese player is not defending champion and eight-time PGA TOUR winner Hideki Matsuyama, instead it is rising star Keita Nakajima. Rounds of 70-63 have the former world no.1 amateur at 7-under par and inside the top 5 in his first PGA TOUR start as a professional, just three shots off the lead. Here are five things to know about the local favorite. 1. Nakajima played in five PGA TOUR events last season, including three majors, as an amateur. He booked a ticket to the Masters and The Open Championship at St. Andrews via victory in the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship and also had an exemption into the U.S. Open thanks to taking out the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the No.1 men’s amateur in 2021. While he was unable to make the cut in the major championships, he was T28 a year ago at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP and also had a decent week at the Sony Open in Hawaii to finish 41st. Nakajima only recently turned professional after a total of 87 weeks as the world’s best amateur. He finished T48 at the 2022 Panasonic Open in his first start as a professional and followed that with a T26 at the 2022 Vantelin Tokai Classic. 2. Nakajima already has a victory on the Japan Golf Tour, winning the Panasonic Open in 2021. He used his title defense as his first pro start. While Hideki Matsuyama is a hero to the young star, he credits his friend Takumi Kanaya as a huge factor in his success having been part of the Japan National Team system under Australian coach Gareth Jones together. “I became his teammate when I joined the national team and was able to learn from and follow in his footsteps by being awarded the McCormack Medal and winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship,” Nakajima said. “I respect him very much. I grew up watching Takumi and he did the same following in the steps of Hideki. I feel it’s my responsibility to leave a positive impression on the players that will come after I leave.” 3. While Matsuyama is his Japanese golf idol, Tiger Woods helped cement golf as Nakajima’s passion. “My family all play golf and I started playing when I was around 6 years old. Whenever I would watch the PGA TOUR on TV, I’d always see Tiger Woods playing and since then, probably around the time I was in junior high school, I have always wanted to become a professional golfer,” he told PGATOUR.com “The first player I ever remember seeing on TV was Tiger Woods. I don’t really remember any particular shots, I just remember his huge fist pumps every time he wins, which I always thought was really cool. “Tiger is definitely a clutch player so I would like to become more like him. I was also very impressed by Collin Morikawa’s winner’s speech at The Open (in 2021). I hope to one day become a player that can deliver a speech like that.” 4. His dream is to join Matsuyama on the PGA TOUR full-time. “He’s a superstar in Japan. I want to catch up to Hideki,” Nakajima said during the Sony Open last season. “I can only imagine all sorts of pressure he must feel to being the first Japanese to accomplish anything. To have that weight on his shoulders and still overcome that to accomplish a feat like winning the Masters is really cool. “My main goal is to successfully play on the PGA TOUR. I hope to continue to improve my game and get it to a level to where I can compete on the PGA TOUR. I’ll keep competing in as many JGTO events as I can, but if a chance to go to the U.S. and play should come up, whether that’s on the PGA TOUR or Korn Ferry Tour, I definitely would love to go over there and start my career.” 5. He has been compared to Dustin Johnson. “I have never really seen someone swing like me and I haven’t tried to make my swing like somebody else’s, but in a recent Golf Digest (Japan) article, they compared my impact position to being very similar to Dustin Johnson,” Nakajima said. “I definitely don’t hit it as far as Dustin, but I am working on hitting it farther.” Nakajima uses a TaylorMade setup on the course. Check out his full bag here.

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