Dustin Risdon’s name was on the lips of a lot of folks in the media room at Glen Abbey today after he got it to four under par early in his second round. It wasn’t exactly the first name that came to mind as the answer to the question: “After Mike Weir, which Canadian has the lowest total so far?” In fact, Risdon, who finished the day at minus-2, is so under the radar that his surname on the placard held by the standard bearer was misspelled.
Risdon drinks, he smokes — and he’s got a smokin’ hot girlfriend who
caddies for him, according to one observant media-room denizen — and he
really doesn’t like to practice. It’s been hinted that he was pushed —
and didn’t jump — from a college golf team, but that’s just a rumour.
Not that that’s all bad.
But the thing that matters most is that he has a chance to jump from
72-hole events on the Canadian Tour for total purses of between
$100,000 and $200,000 to 72-hole events on the PGA Tour where the
winner alone walks away with $900,000, as in the case of this week’s
RBC Canadian Open.
Although it beats selling magazine subscriptions door to door, which
he has done to supplement his income during his six years on the
Canadian Tour, he’s had enough of golf’s minor leagues.
After shooting 62 at Winnipeg’s Pine Ridge in last week’s Canadian
Tour Players Cup, Risdon told Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press,
“I’m definitely not a country-club kid. I was a farm boy.”
Born in Calgary and raised on a farm near Strathmore, the 27-year-old is
only five-foot-eight and 150 pounds but bombs the ball with the big boys and
doesn’t look out of place here. He’s won twice on the Canadian Tour
and if he can make the most of his time in this week’s spotlight, he
could give the Canadian PGA Tour contingent some much-needed verve.
Maybe he’ll fill the quote vacuum caused by the early, unexpected and
regrettable departure of Stephen Ames.
Note: To clarify: As referred to in yesterday’s blog, “lift, clean and cheat” is a common tongue-in-cheek phrase by Tour players (and golf analysts and other golfers) for “lift, clean and place.” Under thislocal rule, the player can lift, clean and place his ball without
penalty as long as he marks the position of the ball first. After cleaning the ball, he must then place it on a spot within one club length not nearer the hole than where it originally lay. For more details, see Appendix I-4b (Preferred Lies) and Rule 20-4 in the Rules
of Golf. “Closely mown area,” as referred to in the suggested local rule in the appendix, means any area of the course mown to fairway height or less. “Through the green” means the entire course except the teeing ground and putting green of the hole being played, and all hazards on the course. Players I spoke to today said the local rule cuts at least one to two strokes off their scores, so take that into account when looking at the Open’s 36-hole totals.