Canadians make 2011 debut in Hawaii

by Golf Canada

A trio of golfers are set to make their 2011 PGA Tour debut this week. Chris Baryla, David Hearn and Matt McQuillan are all entered in this week's Sony Open in Hawaii.

For Baryla, this will be his first PGA start since last April's Shell Houston Open. Shortly therearfter his season came to end after undergoing his surgery. While he was granted a major medical exemption for 2011, Baryla went out and secured his status for the year at Q-school last month.

Hearn is getting his second shot at full-time PGA play after securing his status by finishing in the top 25 of the Nationwide Tour money list last year. He missed an opportunity to improve his status when he elected to skip Q-school in order to give a nagging elbow injury more time to heal. The Brantford, Ontario native says he's 100-percent and doesn't see the elbow being a problem.

Back in 2005, Hearn made just 10 of 24 cuts as a rookie on tour and finished 196th on the money list - not enough to retain his full-time status for the following year.

McQuillan will be making his first ever PGA Tour start after securing his full-time status during last month's Q-school as well. After giving up on golf following 2006 for personal and financial reasons, the Kingston, Ontario native decided to give it one more try, playing most of last season on the EGolf Tour.

Meanwhle, former world number one ranked amateur Nick Taylor will look to make it four Canadians in the field as he attempts to get into the tournament via Monday qualifying. Taylor, who turned pro after a brilliant amateur career, failed to get through the gruelling Q-school grind last month.

Also in the field this week is John Daly, who has relied on sponsor exemptions for the most part the past few years to get into PGA Tour events. While he is a fan favourite, Daly has just four top-25 results in the last five years.

The Sony Open will also mark the first PGA Tour event to be broadcast in 3-D with four holes, including No. 17 and 18, being made available to viewers who have 3-D capable television sets.