RBC Canadian Open Preview

This week is always the highlight of my calendar, the week when I get to come home and play in Canada in the RBC Canadian Open. And this year, I'm very excited to be playing at St. George's Golf and Country Club, a traditional, old-style course, the likes of which we don't see that often on the PGA Tour very often.

I arrived here in Toronto with my family after missing the cut at the British Open. Although I didn't play on the weekend in the Open, I was still relatively happy with the way I was hitting the ball. I drove the ball well and if my short game had been a bit sharper - there was some rust on it after taking three weeks off - I think I would have played on the weekend.

Since I was traveling on the charter provided by Golf Canada on Sunday evening, I stayed around on the weekend in St. Andrews. Brennan and I played at Kingsbarns one day. Well, we actually only played 14 holes because it was a bit slow and I think we were both a bit weary after the long week.

While I was at St. Andrews, I began to have some soreness in my elbow. I'm not sure if it was from not playing during my time off and then hitting a lot of balls or if it was the hard ground on the Old Course, but it began to flare up on Friday. I felt it again on Monday when I played in my charity pro-am at St. George's but I put a brace around it and it seemed fine. Unfortunately on Wednesday in the pro-am, the pain became quite strong and I had to stop playing after 16 holes. I went over to the fitness trailer and got some work done on it - it's really tennis elbow -- and I know I'll be ready to go on Thursday afternoon.

Speaking of Monday, the charity event was amazing. We had so many great celebrities and athletes who came out to play, and a great bunch of amateurs who contributed money to tee it up with these folks that a lot of money was raised for some great causes. I can't thank everyone enough for making the day another special one on so many levels.

The course this week is really getting a lot of great praise. In the locker room, so many of the guys are complimenting it, while at the same time talking about how it's going to be a real test. The rough here is quite long and it's been cut back so when your ball gets in there, it really sinks down. And the greens are very slopey. Thankfully they've got them at a good speed here for how much slope there is on them. You'd never be able to play these at regular tour speed because they'd get crazy, but right now, they're playing well and will still be a really good challenge. You definitely have to stay below the hole if you want to make a lot of putts.

The course also has a number of really meaty par 4s, some long ones where you have to hit a lot of club into the greens. When you have to hit a four-iron, it's not always easy to stay in the perfect spot on the green so that's another great challenge of this course.It will be a really good test this week and the winner will need to play well with every shot from tee to green.

I'm very excited for the overall feel of this tournament too. It's another year under RBC's sponsorship and another year of growth. It just seems to improve year after year thanks to RBC and Golf Canada. We have a great course and a great field with all the greats Canadians, both professionals and amateurs. I've met a number of the Canadians who are playing this week who didn't know before coming here -- some of the amateurs and a few guys from the Canadian Tour. This is a big week for all of us.

I'm certainly looking forward to getting things started on Thursday. 

As always, thanks for your support!
Mike