Golf Talk Canada: Canadians at the U.S. Open
By Chris Mckee
Mark Zecchino is the host of TSN’s Golf Talk Canada and the play-by-play voice of PGA Tour Radio on Sirius/XM. All this week we will be previewing the major storylines surrounding the U.S. Open with Zecchino on Tip of the Tower.
Golf in Canada is at an all-time high as far as the amount of talented players competing every week on the PGA, LPGA, Mackenzie Tour and the web.com Tour.
David Hearn, Nick Taylor and Graham DeLaet all have top 10 finishes this year, while Adam Hadwin and MacKenzie Hughes both earned their first victories on the PGA Tour.
However, only two Canadians were able to qualify this weekend to compete at the U.S. Open at Erin Hills in Hartford, Wisconsin.
In an interview with Mark Zecchino, who is the host of TSN’s Golf Talk Canada and the play-by-play voice of PGA Tour Radio on Sirius/XM, we discussed some key storylines surrounding the U.S. Open, including the two Canadians Adam Hadwin and Corey Conners and their chances this weekend at the U.S Open.
Here is Zecchino’s take on the Canadian’s playing this weekend in the U.S Open:
Adam Hadwin is now officially going to qualify for all four majors this year, which is a great story. I think the U.S. Open is the hardest major to handicap, because anything can happen because it’s such a difficult test. Hadwin’s two biggest assets are that he is not scared of the spotlight and that he has worked really hard on his putting and has become a great putter.
So if you’ve got a great putter and you’re not scared of the moment, that should serve Hadwin well in all of the upcoming majors, including the U.S. Open. It would not surprise me to see him do really well at Erin Hills, because nobody has a home course advantage heading in.
The other Canadian to qualify is Corey Conners. No other Canadian qualified via official world golf ranking or by position in the FedEx Cup standings. Nothing got them in which includes Mackenzie Hughes, who already has a win this year.
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Conners had to go through U.S. Open sectional qualifying rounds and ended up being the low round at his stage of qualifiers after shooting a 61. So he had to go the hard route to get in.
The great thing about the U.S. or British Open is that it is open to anybody who can qualify. If you have a handicap index of 1.4 or lower you can try to qualify and that’s the beauty of this tournament.
That can also be the downfall because there are not enough positions available to guys who have played well, like Hearn or Hughes. It’s ridiculous that Hughes has won on the tour this year but he doesn’t automatically qualify to play in the U.S. Open.
This is why many of the players will tell you that the strongest field of any golf tournament is the Players Championship because there are no qualifying rounds, no club professionals invited or even a past champions category.
Next: Mickelson skipping U.S. Open is a mistake
The Master’s is littered with guys well past their prime while the Players is simply the 144 best players in the world. The best of the best; end of story.