Austin Connelly giving Canadians taste of Open Championship magic

Canada's-Austin-Connelly-celebrates-putting-a-birdie-on-the-18th-green-during-the-third-round-of-the-British-Open-Golf-Championship,-at-Royal-Birkdale,-Southport,-England,-Saturday-July-22,-2017.-(Alastair-Grant/AP)

Canada's Austin Connelly celebrates putting a birdie on the 18th green during the third round of the British Open Golf Championship, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England, Saturday July 22, 2017. (Alastair Grant/AP)

It’s been a long time since a Canadian was in contention in the final round at one of golf’s major championships, but Sunday could change things, depending on how you define Canadian and contention.

Austin Connelly is making the case to stretch the definition of each after 54 holes at Royal Birkdale, site of the 146th Open Championship.

He was born and raised in Dallas, Texas but has Canadian roots. His father, Bill is from Toronto and his grandparents call Nova Scotia home.

Connelly’s claim to Canadian citizenship? Beyond a passport, it’s his membership at Clare Golf and Country Club (weekend green fees: $42.00) in Church Point, N.S., where he visits his grandparents every summer.

These details didn’t matter very much until the previously little-known (to casual Canadian golf fans anyway) 20-year-old put the Maple Leaf on the first page of the leaderboard on Thursday and has moved it up, bit by bit, over the ensuing three rounds.

Which was his plan from the start.

“Well, I had two goals starting the week,” he told reporters after surviving blustery second-round conditions to start play Saturday tied for sixth. “One was to make the cut, and one was to rise up the leaderboard the weekend.”

Done and done.

Saturday was his big moment. He started off his round with a bang – a birdie at the first hole then holing out from the fairway on the second with a 145-yard 9-iron for eagle. He finished in style too, with consecutive birdies at the 17th and 18th holes. His 4-under 66 was tied for the fourth-best round of the day.

“It felt amazing,” he said of his birdie-eagle start. “It’s not very often you’re 3 under through 2 on two par-4s, or ever, really. So it was just incredible the rush you get from making a shot like that so early in the round with the crowd as big as it was. I just tried to stay composed after that, keep moving forward.”

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He’ll start Sunday’s round tied with U.S. Open winner Brooks Koepka for third at 5 under par, playing in the second-to-last group.

Just a regular Canadian kid making a good story.

He only needs to keep Koepka at bay and reel in Matt Kuchar – alone in second at 8 under par – to put himself in position to hunt down the leader, Jordan Spieth, which is the good news.

The bad news is that the 23-year-old Spieth seems poised to run away with things as he tracks down his third major title. His 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th dropped him to 11 under, six shots up on Connelly.

But Connelly may not be completely in awe of the task facing him.

He shares a teacher and agent with Spieth and grew up playing out of the same golf club in Irving, Texas.

They played a practice round at Birkdale too.

“We spoke about strategy, how far to fly it on holes like No. 1 where you have so many options.” Connelly told reporters of his pre-tournament briefing session with his friend and mentor.

Spieth told reporters to keep an eye on Connelly after his protégé opened with a 67 on Thursday:

“This is the type of golf where (Connelly) can really, really make a move and prevail,” Spieth said. “He really works the ball extremely well. He hits his long clubs dead straight and he’s got a killer instinct on the greens, like nothing really fazes him.”

And while Spieth is the primary obstacle facing Connelly in his quest for the Claret Jug, Connelly can’t wish him any ill will:

“I’m still rooting for him, yeah,” said Connelly. “I hope the best – I hope he plays well tomorrow. I hope everyone plays well tomorrow. I just hope that I have my A game. I can only control what I can control. So I’m just going to go out there and do the best I can.”

Based on current form, Spieth will be difficult to track down, but regardless of how things end up Sunday it’s been a magical few days for Connelly, who chose to forgo the typical college golf route and is playing a split schedule on the European PGA Tour and the Junior Challenge Tour in Europe. He qualified for his first major championship by draining a 15-foot putt on the first hole of a four-man playoff at a qualifier at Royal Cinque Ports.

His father, Bill, often caddies for him but this week he’s part of the gallery along with his mother Bridget and his grandfather. Rounding out his gallery has been Roland Deveau, another member at Clare Golf and Country Club and – in another example of worlds colliding – the president of Golf Canada.

Royal Birkdale has been kind to young talent in the past. It was at Birkdale where then 17-year-old Justin Rose burst on to the scene when he finished fourth as an amateur in 1998 and where Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros led after three rounds as a 19-year-old in 1976 before falling to Johnny Miller.

Austin Connelly is giving Canadian golf fans a little taste of that magic.

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