Off to the Races
The 2013 PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf began Tuesday at Magna Golf Club in Aurora, Ont.
The day started with 64 of the best players from the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC, however by day’s end only 32 players were left standing and looking ahead to Wednesday’s second round.
As has been the case since 2011, this year’s championship is contested as a match play event with players from four brackets—Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Al Balding and Moe Norman—looking to advance through the six rounds to the final championship match Friday afternoon at Magna.
The eventual champion will not only earn a share of the $100,000 purse, but also captures the historic P.D. Ross Trophy.
The second-seeded Mike Belbin (Royal Mayfair Golf Club) said he’s enjoying the opportunity to play this week’s match play format.
“One thing about match play is we don’t play it, so it’s a different frame of mind,” he said after his 3&2 win over Brennan Rumancik of Elmwood Golf & Country Club. “In a normal tournament you have 36 or 72 holes to work with, but out here you’ve got a couple hours to get things going.”
In addition to Belbin advancing, the other top-seeded players—Brian McCann (The BraeBen Academy/Bradlee Ryall Golf), Danny King (The Performance Academy at Magna) and Dave Levesque (La Prairie Club de Golf) all advanced versus their opening match opponent.
“We had a good group of members and staff following us out there today, so it was a lot of fun,” King, who is a home course fan favourite this week at Magna, said. “I was really nervous for the first dozen holes and it didn’t seem like I hit a lot of good, quality shots but I stayed patient.”
King is one of a handful of players currently in the race for the No. 1-spot atop the PGA of Canada Player Rankings. The player who sits atop the rankings at the conclusion of this week earns an exemption into next month's RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.
Currently, McCann is No. 1 with 189 points, while Belbin is in second with 181 points. King is third with 180 points. Dave Levesque (La Prairie Club de Golf), Bryn Parry (Seymour Creek Golf Centre), Brian Hutton and Billy Walsh (Fairtree Golf Centre) are ranked inside the top 10 and are still in the field at Magna.
With 60 points awarded to the winner of the PGA Championship of Canada, any of the aforementioned players have an opportunity to jump to the top of the rankings pile. McCann meanwhile looks to pad his lead and says his game is rounding into form for the first time in a number of years.
“Recently I got an email from a buddy of mine who said I need to get my act in gear and start working on my game,” McCann said. “So the next few days I went out, changed my setup and have started to hit it really solidly again.”
Other players advancing on the first day of the PGA Championship of Canada at Magna Golf Club include David Wettlaufer (Goodwood Golf Club); Chris Barber (The Landings Golf Course and Teaching Centre); Dean Brown (Royal Regina Golf Club); Dan Greenwood (Heron Point Golf Links); John Hastie (Lively Golf & Country Club); last year’s champion Eric Laporte (Club de Golf Montcalm); Colin Murray (Peninsula Lakes Golf Club); Dean North (Carman Golf Club); Marc Girourard (Club de Golf Diamant); Ron Kenesky (Twenty Valley Golf & Country Club); Dan Garagan (Pinewood Park Golf Course); 2011 champion Vincent Dumouchel (Club de Golf Vallee Du Richelieu); Kevin Senecal (Le Maitre Tremblant); Brian Hadley (Thames Valley Golf Club); Eddward Boudreau (Gorge Vale Golf Club); Billy Walsh (Fairtree Golf Centre); Ed Maunder (Deerfield Golf & Recreation Centre); Reggie Millage (The Golf Lab); Billy Houle (Club de Golf Berthier Inc.); Louis-Pierre Godin (Club de Golf Le Mirage); Graham Gunn (Whitesands Golf & Practice Centre); Dave Zibrik (Seymour Creek Golf Centre); Brian Hutton; Ian Doig (The Ian Doig Golf Academy); Andrew Steep (Glendale Country Club); and Daniel Talbot (Centre de Practique de Golf Sports Montreal).
For the full match play bracket, including Wednesday’s match-ups and starting times, CLICK HERE
Stay up-to-date with this year's PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf by visiting pgaofcanada.com, twitter.com/pgaofcanada, youtube.com/thepgaofcanada and facebook.com/pgaofcanada
The day started with 64 of the best players from the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC, however by day’s end only 32 players were left standing and looking ahead to Wednesday’s second round.
As has been the case since 2011, this year’s championship is contested as a match play event with players from four brackets—Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Al Balding and Moe Norman—looking to advance through the six rounds to the final championship match Friday afternoon at Magna.
The eventual champion will not only earn a share of the $100,000 purse, but also captures the historic P.D. Ross Trophy.
The second-seeded Mike Belbin (Royal Mayfair Golf Club) said he’s enjoying the opportunity to play this week’s match play format.
“One thing about match play is we don’t play it, so it’s a different frame of mind,” he said after his 3&2 win over Brennan Rumancik of Elmwood Golf & Country Club. “In a normal tournament you have 36 or 72 holes to work with, but out here you’ve got a couple hours to get things going.”
In addition to Belbin advancing, the other top-seeded players—Brian McCann (The BraeBen Academy/Bradlee Ryall Golf), Danny King (The Performance Academy at Magna) and Dave Levesque (La Prairie Club de Golf) all advanced versus their opening match opponent.
“We had a good group of members and staff following us out there today, so it was a lot of fun,” King, who is a home course fan favourite this week at Magna, said. “I was really nervous for the first dozen holes and it didn’t seem like I hit a lot of good, quality shots but I stayed patient.”
King is one of a handful of players currently in the race for the No. 1-spot atop the PGA of Canada Player Rankings. The player who sits atop the rankings at the conclusion of this week earns an exemption into next month's RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.
Currently, McCann is No. 1 with 189 points, while Belbin is in second with 181 points. King is third with 180 points. Dave Levesque (La Prairie Club de Golf), Bryn Parry (Seymour Creek Golf Centre), Brian Hutton and Billy Walsh (Fairtree Golf Centre) are ranked inside the top 10 and are still in the field at Magna.
With 60 points awarded to the winner of the PGA Championship of Canada, any of the aforementioned players have an opportunity to jump to the top of the rankings pile. McCann meanwhile looks to pad his lead and says his game is rounding into form for the first time in a number of years.
“Recently I got an email from a buddy of mine who said I need to get my act in gear and start working on my game,” McCann said. “So the next few days I went out, changed my setup and have started to hit it really solidly again.”
Other players advancing on the first day of the PGA Championship of Canada at Magna Golf Club include David Wettlaufer (Goodwood Golf Club); Chris Barber (The Landings Golf Course and Teaching Centre); Dean Brown (Royal Regina Golf Club); Dan Greenwood (Heron Point Golf Links); John Hastie (Lively Golf & Country Club); last year’s champion Eric Laporte (Club de Golf Montcalm); Colin Murray (Peninsula Lakes Golf Club); Dean North (Carman Golf Club); Marc Girourard (Club de Golf Diamant); Ron Kenesky (Twenty Valley Golf & Country Club); Dan Garagan (Pinewood Park Golf Course); 2011 champion Vincent Dumouchel (Club de Golf Vallee Du Richelieu); Kevin Senecal (Le Maitre Tremblant); Brian Hadley (Thames Valley Golf Club); Eddward Boudreau (Gorge Vale Golf Club); Billy Walsh (Fairtree Golf Centre); Ed Maunder (Deerfield Golf & Recreation Centre); Reggie Millage (The Golf Lab); Billy Houle (Club de Golf Berthier Inc.); Louis-Pierre Godin (Club de Golf Le Mirage); Graham Gunn (Whitesands Golf & Practice Centre); Dave Zibrik (Seymour Creek Golf Centre); Brian Hutton; Ian Doig (The Ian Doig Golf Academy); Andrew Steep (Glendale Country Club); and Daniel Talbot (Centre de Practique de Golf Sports Montreal).
For the full match play bracket, including Wednesday’s match-ups and starting times, CLICK HERE
Stay up-to-date with this year's PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf by visiting pgaofcanada.com, twitter.com/pgaofcanada, youtube.com/thepgaofcanada and facebook.com/pgaofcanada