Honda Classic Pre-Game

Welcome back once again readers! The Honda Classic "inside the field" is now posted. By the looks of it, the tournament will be once again a fun one to watch. The list includes World Ranking #2 Rory McIlroy and #3 Lee Westwood, FedEx Cup Standing #2 Jason Wagner, 2012 PGA Tour Moneylist #2 Mark Wilson and the 2011 Honda Classic Champion Rory Sabbatini. As well, the field includes "international" players; England's Justine Rose and Ian Poulter, Korea's Charlie Wi and Y.E. Yang,  South Africa's Charl Schwartzel, Trevor Immelman, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen and finally our own Canadian Graham DeLaet and David Hearn along side Mike Weir and Stephen Ames. This tournament looks like it will turn out to be a great one!

Expert Picks!


Well it looks like the experts are thinking that Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood are going to continue their hot streak from last weekend as they have them as #1 and #2. Interesting the rest of the line has Mark Wilson, Tiger Woods, Kyle Stanley, Keegan Bradley, Y.E. Yang, Ryan Moore, Charl Schwartzel and Justine Rose all on the top 10 list. However, the popular pick of the pannel to win it all is Rory with 5 out of the 10 votes. I'm sure the young Northern Irelander will not let any of us down.

Tweet...

Once again as I am following the Canucks on twitter, Graham is feeling as he mentioned he had a great practice round and it excited about the week, also "@GrahamDeLaet The 2 iron is back in the bag 1st time since '09" #oldschool. I like that the fact that threw in the 2 iron (and I put the # in there :) ) because alot of players do not hit low irons anymore. I like that he has to confidence to hit an iron like that...I wish I could.


Quick Rundown of the Honda Classic

The tournament is held in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, the length of the course is approx 7150 yards and play a par of 70. The purse of the tournament is 5.7 million dollars with the winner taking home just over 1 million along with 500 FedEx cup points.

This is one of my favorite (if not the favorite) tournament of the year because I am Honda owner and come from a Honda owning Family. I currently have a Honda Prelude that I love and I support the Honda Nation with a couple fancy belt buckles and hats! GO HONDA

Tee Off!


Graham will be teeing off Thursday morning at 6:50 am on the first hole while David will be teeing off at 7:10am on the 10th hole.

Hopefully we will see the boys do well this weekend and keep us entertained.

Have a good one!

Mayakoba Results!!!

Another weekend and another exciting tournament for one of the Canadian Golfers, David Hearn.

Hearn started off the tournament well shooting a 68 3 under par on Thursday to put himself in a good position at tied for 15^th. Fridays round wasn’t so hot as he started off the day even on the front 9 holes then on the back 9 holes bogeyed two holes to finish 73, 2 over putting him at one under for the tournament and dropping 18 spots leaving him tied for 27^th. Regardless of his over par play on Friday he made it into the weekend as the cut was made at 3 over par. The reason why the cut line is a little higher than usual is because the top 64 players in the world (respectively) are competing in the Accenture World Golf Championships Match Play event in Marana Arizona, USA at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. Hopefully Hearn plays stronger tomorrow and will move up the ranks putting him in the best possible position going into the final round on Sunday.

Saturday was another struggle for Hearn as he started the round with a double bogey 6 on the first hole. The then scrambled to finish the front 9 holes at 38, 2 over par. The back nine holes were even worse. He had 2 bogeys and one double bogey as he finished the back nine 4 over par and the round with a score of 77, 6 over par. This would put him back to 5 over par for the weekend.

Sunday was a new day and he must have hit the range before the round and done some serious imagery the night before because Sunday’s round was the complete opposite of Saturday’s. Hearn started Sunday HOT as he birdied 7 out of the first 9 holes leaving him 29 going out. Coming in he played well until the last two holes which he bogeyed and double bogeyed leaving him 3 over on the back 9 but still a respectable 5 under for the day. With his efforts on Sunday, he found himself at even par and tied for 49^th position.

Having watched a glimpse of the tournament on Sunday, he was striking the ball very well and his score showed for it. I would hope he would walk away from this weekend with his head held high as he made the cut but also in the back of his mind that he has some work to do before the next tournament. 

Next weekend is the Honda Classic and both of our fellow Canucks will be present. Stay tuned for details.

Cheers!

Northern Trust Results.....Same Money?!

The Canucks finished another weekend…..only this time their scorecards matched up pretty close. After a long weekend at the Northern Trust Open Graham and David each finished the tournament tied for 44^th spot at +4 (288). Graham DeLaet started off the tournament on Thursday with a score of 2 over par 73 while David Hearn started off the week with a -1 70. After the first round Hearn was amongst the top of the leader board. Friday’s score flopped between the players when DeLaet shot -3 and Hearn shot +1.  Regardless of their mediocre scores, both players made the cut and would be able to play on the weekend. The cut was made at 3 over par and after two round and the Canadian boys were in the clear with scores of -1 and +1. Saturdays round resulted in both players shooting over par. DeLaet shot 2 over while Hearn continued to struggle shooting 3 over par. Sunday’s play resulted in Hearn earning his birdies but the bogeys he had caught up with him and he finished at even par for the day and 4 over for the tournament. Graham DeLaet let the front 9 get the best of him shooting 5 over but he got back a couple shots on the back 9 finishing 3 over par and 4 over par for the tournament. This left the boys tied for 44^th spot in the tournament.

Overall, watching some of the tournament it looked like the boys had a good tournament. They made some great shots but also let some of the holes get the best of them. Once again they did not let down their followers on Twitter and continued to tweet different things surrounding the tournament. Interesting note: Graham DeLaet tweeted after the tournament that he is excited to go home finally, as he has not been home since December 30^th, 2011 #frustrated.

Currently on the FedEx cup points list Graham DeLaet leads between the Canucks with a spot of 96^th which puts him in the top 100 Deutsche Bank group, while David Hearn sits in 74^th spot also putting him in the Deutsche Bank group.

Other news from the Tournament, Phil Mickelson continued his strong play as he finished tied for 2^nd with Keegan Bradley as those two and Bill Haas went to a playoff to finish the tournament. Bill Haas won on the second playoff as he made a 45 foot birdie putt to win the tournament and take home over $1.18 million.

After researching information from the tournament, I find a piece of a blog from reporter Bob Weekes and his conversations with the two Canuck players.

"Both David Hearn and Graham DeLaet are playing the LA Open for the first time this week and both said they adjusted their schedules to accommodate the event due to the reputation of the course. Hearn said it was a tough decision because he enjoys Pebble Beach but had to find a week off somewhere. DeLaet was wide-eyed when I asked him how he liked the course. He specifically referred to the 10^th hole as a great short par 4. We’ll see if this enthusiasm works itself into a good finish."

Finally, I have found a highlight video from this past weekends tournament of a great chip from Graham.

http://sports.yahoo.com/video/player/golf/Top_Shots/28345637#golf/Top_Shots/28345637

That concludes this past weekends Tournament. I have also posted the link to the Northern Trust website in case anyone was interested in any other information surrounding the tournament. 

http://www.northerntrustopen.com/tournament/index.html?NICE=/&processedByNice=yes

Next weekends PGA Tournament is Mayakoba Golf Classic held as the El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Only one of the boys will be in attendance at this tournament  as David Hearn looks to rack up some points and Graham DeLaet heads home for some recovery. Stay tuned for pre tournament info and results follow the weekend.

That's all for now. Cheers!

Northern Trust Open Preview

The Canuck Duo is back on the playing scene

 Another weekend is ahead of us with the Northern Trust Open at The Riviera Country Club in beautiful Pacific Palisades, California. This weekend’s tournament is featuring both of our Canucks; David and Graham [as noted on PGATour.com under international players :) ]. Graham is coming off of a tough let down in last weekend’s performance at the AT &T Pebble Beach tournament but has a clear mind and looking to rebound well. I think that with a little holiday in the week (Valentine's Day) will help the players get their mind off the game for a bit and then get them refocused going into the tournament. Tweet from Graham “Happy Valentine's day to my beautiful wife. Thanks for making my life great and easier". Clearly he has a supportive wife and is enjoying the weather is California as noted by tweet "Riviera is in mint shape #understatement". David Hearn on the other is going into the Northern Trust off a well rested weekend as he did not compete in the AT&T tournament in Pebble Beach as he was at Florida practising and preparing for this weekend. Regardless of preparation, I have a good feeling that the Canadians in the field will have a good weekend.

Inside the Field!

The Northern Trust Open purse is $1,170,000 US and the winner takes on 500 FedEx cup points. Last year Aaron Baddeley took home the championship title with a score of -12. I'm sure he is hoping to capture that title again this year. Other big names in the tournament are Australia’s Jason Day and Adam Scott, Fiji's Vijay Singh, South Africa's Trevor Immelman, Rory Sabbatini and Retief Goosen, England’s Justin Rose and Luke Donald, Spain's own Sergio Garcia and finally Clomubia's spidercrawl Camilo Villegas. These are just a few of the big international players alongside America golfers Hunter Mahan, Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson and old timer Fred Couples making his 30th appearance at the Northern Trust Open.

Northern Trust Givin' Back!!!!

I really like watching this tournament each year (as many / or all other tournaments) because it donates money to local Los Angeles charities. Over the tournaments history is has donated "nearly $52 million for Los Angeles-area charities. All proceeds from the Northern Trust Open support non-profit organisations in Los Angeles and help approximately 15,000 Los Angeles residents each year and 5,000 children, who are cared for in after-school programs. The Northern Trust Open has also enabled 200,000 children to compete in the Watts Summer Games" (pgatour.com). Some of the charities that the tournament has donated to include not limited to:

• Los Angeles Jr. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
• Scga Foundation
• Growth of the game
• Youth/Children     

To add to the donations of the tournament, this year Grammy-Award winning country superstar Martina McBride will be performing a special performance at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles live @ 8pm tonight (Tuesday February 14^th, 2012). All the proceeds will be going to help support the Northern Trust Charities.

Inside scoop of the Riviera Country Club

The course was originally built in 1926 and plays as the 10^th hardest course (out of 51) on the PGA. The current yardage of the course plays approximately 7,279 yards; it has 60 sand bunkers and no water hazards. Finally the course record is currently held by Ted Tryba with a low score of 61which was shot in 3^rd round of the Northern Trust back in 99’. He then went on to finish tied for 2^nd in the tournament.

WRAP UP

Well folks that concludes today’s post. Stay tuned for results following the tournament and hopefully we’ll have our Canadian Golfers rack up some FedEx Cup Points and take home some 

AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am PODCAST

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Podcast

Leading up to this past weekend’s tournament there was a quite a bit of “hype” of who would win the tournament. Every year this is a major tournament for all the big names. Unfortunately for my blog only one of the players will be in the tournament, Graham DeLaet. Never the less I will be covering news and information leading up to, during and the results of the tournament not only for Graham but also including players like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. 

The following are links that will direct you to each specific golf course that was played on the weekend. The first is to Spyglass Hill, the second is to Pebble Beach an the third is to Monterey Peninsula.

•              www.pebblebeach.com/golf/spyglass-hill-golf-cours  
•        www.pebblebeach.com/
•       www.montereypeninsulagolf.com

      Finally here is the link to my podcast. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIxrm4v5Qoo

AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Well Folks, another weekend past and another PGA Tour event went down in the history books. This what a great tournament to watch! Actually it always is a great tournament to watch, the reason why I think it is a great tournament to watch is because 1. its played right beside the ocean in California 2. its play amongst three course 3. its a pro am event so you get to see some celebrities and their golf game 4. all the big time golfers are present 5. it is among the first tournaments of the year and for me lets me see who's who for the year and finally 6. it was has great scores and golf shots. This year was once again no disappointment! There were super low scores, great shots made front all areas of the course and not to mention the winner added a nice title to his collection. BUT!, I'm not going to let all the details out just yet. I will cover the tournament in detail in my next blog with is in the form of a podcast. This will be posted Tuesday at the latest. Until then I will provide a some pictures and a few of the great shots from the weekend!

This is a scenic view of one of the holes on the MPCC.

This is a view from Pebble Beach (the host course).

The last course that was was part of the tournament is Spyglass Hill GC. This is a very beautiful picture of one of the holes on the course.





Finally here is a small clip of the winning put that Mickelson made for birdie on the 72nd hole of the tournament to extend his lead finishing the tournament with a score of 269 (-17). As well there are other video links available from different highlights of Phil Mickelson's round.

·         http://www.pgatour.com/video/praxis/?y=2012&t=r005&p=01810

INSIDER OF YOURS TRULY :)

Dear Readers,

Before we get to in depth with the blogging I thought I would give you the inside scoop of myself and why I am blogging about these players. I am currently in my third year of Human Kinetics: Sport Studies at the University of Windsor. I am currently enrolled in a great course called Sport Communication. As a major assignment I am to blog about some topic related to sport. I thought to myself what would be better than blogging about one of the greatest sport EVER (period). I would consider myself a golfer but I am certainly not a pro or even semi pro. Likely an average golfer with a handicap that ranges from 10 to 15 depending on the year.  I couldn't decide what to exactly blog about within the sport of Golf then I came to the conclusion of the two of the up and coming Canadian stars Graham and David. I thought it would be interesting the blog about because these players need to play more tournaments then the big time stars like Rory or Poulter because they need to make more money and FedEx points. Soo, I thought it would be fun and would provide a more in depth analysis of their results and tournament play. I have been searching for interviews and highlights from the tournaments but I have yet to come across any. If I do I will definitely post them on the blog. Hopefully you have enjoy and will continue to enjoy the blogs about these Canadian youngsters.

Cheers,

Shawn

Waste Management Results $$$

The Canucks saw Sunday!

This past weekend the David and Graham were in Scottsdale, Arizona to compete in the Waste Management Phoenix Open. After reading some of DeLaet's tweets prior to the event he uses this tournament to build up for the AT & T Tournament next weekend in Pebble Beach, California. The two Canucks started off the weekend on relatively the same pace. Graham started off the -2 on the front nine and finishing the round even par at 71. Hearn started off one shot off on the front nine holes at -1 but then picked up a little bit on the back finishing with a 69 (-2) for the day.
Friday DeLaet played a little bit better shooting a 32 (-3) on the front and finished with a +1 (37) to finish with a -2 69. This put him at -2 for the tournament and this score would make the cut and allow him into the weekend. Hearn continued to shoot a consistent game with -1 on the front and back nine leaving him with the same score -2 for the round and -4 for the week. With the score of -4 this would also allow him to compete during the weekend.
DeLaet continued to play at the level he was at, playing the most consistent between the two players. On Saturday he shot +1 (72) and finished the weekend with a score of even par (71) which left him at a score of -1 283 for the weekend. In this position he found himself tied for 55th. Hearn's play started to go south once the weekend started. After Friday he was in good position and if he continued to play the way he was he would have found himself near the top of the leader board. However, he couldn't pull it together. On Saturday he shot a disappointing +2 (73) and finished the weekend with a +3 (74) which left him at a score of +1 285 leaving him tied for 65th position.
Regardless of the scores the boys are always having fun and tweeting their best. Graham tweeted he didn't play his best but he had lots of support out there and felt like he was at the Canadian Open "#homeice" (good Canadian comment). And Hearn was excited and tweeted that he went 4 for 4 on the 16th hole (no boggies for the weekend).

FedEx Cup Points:
After this week’s results Hearn has found himself ahead of DeLaet in the FedEx cup standings with 74 points in 4 events being tied for 73rd while DeLaet has 52 points in 3 events tied for 92nd.

Money Standings:
As of now Hearn also leads DeLaet in the money winnings this year. DeLaet is currently tied for 100th with the winnings of US $46, 481.00 while Hearn has earn himself a spot of 55th with a total winnings of US $150,066.00. Not too shabby if you ask me, 4 events and earn 150K. I’ll take that any day of the week. 

Next...Graham DeLaet competes inthe AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am while David Hearn rests in Florida on the driving range preparing for the Northern Trust Open in California.

STAY TUNED!!!!!