Mike Report Day Three at the Bell Canadian Open

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:55:21

"Saturday was another difficult day at the Hamilton G&CC. It was a day where I didn't get off to a good start and had to rely on my putting to pull me through. I wasn't driving the ball very well and overall, wasn't really in rhythm. But a lot of that had to do with the wind - it was swirling and gusting all day. It made it really hard to pick a club and extremely hard to get yourself confident over shots.

So many times on Saturday, I'd hit a shot only to have the wind either gust and knock it down or blow and carry it too far. There were times when Brennan and I were left scratching our heads as to what was going on. Sometimes, the wind would gust in all four directions on the same hole. As I got into the back nine, I started to feel more comfortable and my swing started to come around. I began to give myself some chances for birdies and dragged myself back up. I had a good chance for eagle on 17, that just missed. And on 18, I thought I hit a really good second shot but it just came up a bit short and landed in the rough. Unfortunately, despite the great ovation on that hole, I ended my day with a bogey.

The crowds were great all day. I'm really trying to grind something out here for them, trying to dig down and at least give them a reason to cheer. I know how badly they want all of us Canadians to do well and I hope I can give them some reason to cheer on Sunday. I think most fans know my record so far this year in coming from behind is pretty good. I'm a little further back than I'd like to be but I know that Sunday is another day and I'll give it everything I've got to try and get in contention. This golf course is unrelenting and I don't think any lead is a safe one until the final hole. There's a lot of great golfers on that leaderboard and I know everyone of them will be trying to win this great title. No matter what the outcome, it should be a great final round.

As always, thanks for your support.
Mike
"