Who can end the Canadian Open drought?

It has been 60 years since a Canadian has won the Canadian Open, with only Mike Weir in 2004 coming close. But with a new crop of homegrown talent, could the drought end in 2014?

This was the climate, so to speak, the last time a Canadian golfer won this country’s national open: Elvis Presley had just recorded his first song; the Detroit Lions won the NFL Championship Game (it wasn’t called the Super Bowl yet); and the world’s first Burger King opened in Jacksonville, Fla.

Yes, it’s been a while.

The year was 1954, and the victorious Canadian was the late Pat Fletcher, a nine-time Tour winner who broke a then-40-year-long drought for Canucks at the tourney.

With a 60-year drought now upon us—Canadians Graham DeLaet, David Hearn and Co. have addressed this dozens of time on the heels of the RBC Canadian Open, which starts Thursday.

Let’s take a look at the Canucks who could put an end to it at Royal Montreal.

Graham DeLaet

Lenny Ignelzi/AP
Lenny Ignelzi/AP

The Weyburn, Sask.-born DeLaet is Canada’s top-ranked golfer, at No. 38. He’s banging on the door of his first Tour win, with a pair of T-2s this season. How sweet would the long-time-coming-win be if he made it happen in Canada? Exactly. And the good news is, Royal Montreal suits DeLaet. The 32-year-old is not only huge off the tee, but he ranks No. 1 in greens in regulation, which will come in handy this week. “Players who have a good short-iron game, the course would favour them,” says RBC Canadian Open chairman, Tom Quinn. “A lot of the greens are protected up front with bunkers. The second shot becomes critical.” Excellent.

David Hearn

Ross D. Franklin/AP
Ross D. Franklin/AP

Winning this baby will take a little luck, and the Brantford, Ont.-born Hearn is in the midst of a hot streak. Consider how he squeezed into his first-ever Open Championship last week at Royal Liverpool: He was the first alternate, and got the call because Mark Calcavecchia literally couldn’t get there in time. Airlines stymied his trip. And then Hearn put together three rounds under par and finished T-32. Not too shabby for his first experience on a links course in Europe. Hearn’s also had three top 10s this season and is now back among the top 100 in the world, at No. 93.

Adam Hadwin

hadwin_adam487.jpg

Here’s a guy we don’t talk about enough. Hadwin earned his first win on the Web.Com Tour early this season, and he’s put up five top-10 finishes. The Moose Jaw, Sask. native—who bears a striking resemblance to Vinny Chase from Entourage—is No. 6 on the Web.com’s money list, a virtual lock to earn his PGA Tour card next year. To boot, he came close to winning this baby a couple years back. Hadwin was one off the lead heading into the fourth round of the 2011 Canadian Open, and finished T-4 after a final-round 72.

Brad Fritsch

AP
AP

He isn’t having what we’d call a career year—Fritsch has missed more cuts than he’s made on Tour this season—but he’s coming off a solid finish at the John Deere Classic. There, Fritsch fired a third-round 63 and finished T-13. He’ll need to catch lightning at Royal Montreal.

Mike Weir

Mike Weir (Chuck Burton/AP)
Mike Weir (Chuck Burton/AP)

Yes, Weir has been struggling since coming back from injuries, but this course has been good to the 2003 Masters champion. Royal Montreal is the site of the David vs Goliath moment in Canadian golf, when Mike Weir took down World. No. 1 Tiger Woods in a head-to-head singles matchup at the 2007 Presidents Cup. Remember?

The Americans had already clinched the win, but Weir and Woods were still duelling. All square through 17 after Weir drained a birdie putt, Woods then dunked his drive into marsh grass surrounding the pond on 18, then came up short with his chip shot and ceded the match to Weir. Good memories at Royal Montreal. Weir also showed a flash of his old self earlier this season with a second-place finish at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. And back in 2004, he came oh-so-close to winning the Canadian Open, settling for second after losing in a three-hole playoff to Vijay Singh.

There you have it, the candidates. It’s high time a Canadian brought home the hardware again.

It has to happen eventually, right?

 

 

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