Brennan's Blog - RBC Canadian Open

I would like to apologize for not having a blog last week for the RBC Canadian Open but I just ran out of time as the week was very busy.  I have to say the week started out fantastic with the Charity Classic on Monday.  There was a great turnout of celebrities and PGA Tour players, and an incredible turnout by the fans.  I have never seen so many people out on a Monday of a Tour event in all of my time on Tour.  I know from talking to several of the hockey players that they really enjoyed themselves and were surprised at how many people were there to watch. 

It was a very fun day for me as I got to play with the Thomson Reuters team.  We played nine holes with Rick Nash and nine with Paul Coffey. Rick was a former London Knight so it was good to talk a little hockey during the round.  He was also a great 12 handicap!

My golf was lousy but I had a lot of fun and I think the day was a great success raising about $400,000 for Mikes charity! I think that this event will only get bigger and better as the years go on.

As far as the RBC Canadian Open went, it was very unfortunate that the week turned out like it did.  For the second year in a row mother nature wasn't very kind and there were all kinds of rain delays.  It was a very long and difficult week for everyone from the players to fans and an even longer week for all the employees who worked the event.  I give a lot of credit to the grounds crew for having the course in good enough condition to play with all the bad weather.  All of the holes that are in the valley and sit so close to the river were very playable even with the amount of rain we received. A lot of credit goes out to everyone on the maintenance crew who I am sure worked an incredible number of hours.  I feel bad for RBC and the RCGA because they have done a great job at making this event a top notch PGA Tour event.

The fields are slowly getting stronger and stronger and with RBC on board the event is in great hands! I think with the courses that we have the next few years, St. Georges and Shaughnessey, the field will be even stronger.

This year was a bit of a tough finish for Mike who played quite nicely all week long.  It was one of those weeks where he just couldn't get the putts to fall.  Everyone has them on Tour.  Some weeks the ball just doesn't want to go in.  Aside from the finish at 16, 17, and 18 it was a decent week which included a hole in one on the 4th hole. There were 8 hole in ones on the week which is mind boggling to me as I have never seen anything like it! Doubled the old record of 4 hole in ones in a week! Mark Calcavecchia also recorded 9 birdies in a row which broke the old record of 8. Two incredible feats on a vulnerable golf course!

Congrats to Nathan Green on the win.  He is a great guy and very Happy for him!  Also a job well done to Bill Paul and the RCGA and everyone at RBC.  I am proud that we as Canadians are able to host a great event and look forward to next year at St. Georges!