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Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Climate
- Winnipeg Free Press
Rory McIlroy chasing third title as Robert MacIntyre looks to repeat at Canadian Open
CALEDON – Rory McIlroy and Robert MacIntyre don't just love playing golf, they're students of the history of the game. That's why they're both set on once again capturing the RBC Canadian Open and blocking a Canadian from winning on home soil. The pair have combined for three of the past four Canadian Open titles, with Northern Ireland's McIlroy winning in 2019 and 2022, and Scotland's MacIntyre emerging victorious last year. If McIlroy wins again, he'll join Lee Trevino, Sam Snead and Tommy Armour as a three-time champion. 'Anytime you start to rack up multiple wins in places, especially with a trophy like the Canadian Open and the names that are on that trophy, there's not many that are on it three times,' said McIlroy on Wednesday. 'So yeah, it would be very cool. 'I'd love to get myself in the mix at the weekend and have an opportunity to do it.' American Leo Diegel is the only player to win the 121-year-old championship four times (1924, 1925, 1928 and 1929). Diegel, Trevino, Snead, and Armour are all in the World Golf Hall of Fame. MacIntyre's first-ever PGA Tour title was at last year's Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. He followed that up six weeks later with a win at his home nation's Genesis Scottish Open. He said on Tuesday that 'national opens are huge' for him and the sport of golf. 'Being from Europe, we've got a lot of national opens: Scottish Open, French Open, Spanish Open, one event in Belgium, last week in Austria,' said MacIntyre in the media centre at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, the host of this year's Canadian Open. 'I just think it brings out more if there's one event in a specific area, like here this week. 'National opens are a massive part of the game. I just wish that we'd done more to promote a lot more national opens.' There are 24 Canadians in the field this year at TPC Toronto, with Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., front and centre. While he's not the highest-ranked Canadian on tour — that's Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., who sits ninth on the points list — Taylor won the Canadian Open in 2023, ending a 69-year drought for Canucks at the men's national championship. 'My game feels good. It's been a pretty consistent year,' said Taylor, who is No. 16 on the FedEx Cup standings. 'I haven't been trying to reinvent the wheel at all, just being more consistent off the tee, which has helped. Iron game has been strong this year, and the short game has been solid. 'It's come together nicely in some bigger tournaments, which is always the goal to start the year.' MacIntyre, for his part, is willing to play spoiler to the home fans. 'There's a lot of Canadian players here this week obviously wanting to win the Canadian Open,' he said. 'Everyone's wanting to win this week, but it just adds an extra incentive for the Canadian guys because it's the Canadian Open, and I think the crowd also builds on that. 'They try to get some more kind of praise and applause for good golf to the Canadians, which is — I mean, I get that in Scotland and elsewhere, wherever, like a Frenchman in France, it's the exact same stuff.' Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Temperatures reached 30 C during Wednesday's pro-am at TPC Toronto, with the humidex making it feel like 34. Rain was expected overnight and into the morning as the first round tees off. The forecast calls for a mix of sun and clouds for the remaining three rounds with gusts up to 31 km/h. 'I don't know if you can call any course a typical TPC setup, but that's kind of what it's like,' said McIlroy. 'A little bit of room off the tee, the fairways are quite generous, but if you miss them, the rough is pretty penal. The greens are tricky, undulating, really got to hit it into the right sections. 'I think it could be a good test by the end of the week if there's no rain and it firms up a little bit and they can tuck the pins away.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025.
USA Today
23-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
World Golf Hall of Famer Lee Trevino is making an appearance at a PGA Tour Champions event
World Golf Hall of Famer Lee Trevino is making an appearance at a PGA Tour Champions event Lee Trevino is the 2025 UHS Health Expo special guest at the Dick's Sporting Goods Open. The 2025 Dick's Open will be held July 7-13, with world-famous golfers competing throughout the weekend for a total prize pool of $2.2 million. UHS' Health Expo event will be held at Endicott's En-Joie Golf Course at 4 p.m. on July 9, and will feature Trevino, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, who will participate in a Q&A session beginning at 6 p.m. While Trevino never entered the Dick's Open field, he played in six B.C. Opens, the former PGA Tour event at En-Joie. His top finish in Endicott was a tie for third in 1980. Trevino, who is 85, practices golf for an hour and a half each day, and continues to share his experience with the sport through public events and clinics. According to UHS Chief Executive Officer John Carrigg, Trevino personifies the healthy ideals shared by UHS, making him the event's perfect representative. 'We are honored to have Lee Trevino, one of the world's greatest golfers, as the honorary host of our 2025 Expo," said Carrigg. "Not only is he a champion athlete in every sense, but also a champion of fitness, nutrition, and a positive, never-give-up attitude, leading a life dedicated to wellness." Buy Dick's Sporting Goods Open tickets on Ticketmaster Ahead of the Q&A session, visitors will have the chance to participate in a free walk-through expo with various amenities including blood pressure screenings, exercise challenges, smoothie samples and recipes, giveaways and hula hoop sessions to improve balance. Skin cancer screenings will also be available, though guests will need to register in advance at On July 12, UHS and the DICK'S Open will host a free Family Fun Night screening of "Lilo & Stitch" at 7:30 p.m., with a fireworks display to close out the weekend's festivities.
USA Today
15-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
50 years ago Jack Nicklaus, tangled with Firestone before winning PGA Championship
50 years ago Jack Nicklaus, tangled with Firestone before winning PGA Championship Jack Nicklaus's affection for Firestone Country Club knew no bounds. He turned the club's South Course into his personal playground, winning seven of his 73 career PGA Tour titles there, none more memorable than the 1975 PGA Championship. "I wanted this one badly," Nicklaus said. "Playing so close to home, you feel the weight of every shot." A native Ohioan, Nicklaus won at Firestone more than he did at Augusta National, but his win total was topped by Tiger Woods, who captured eight victories there before the course shifted to hosting a PGA Tour Champions event, the Kaulig Companies Championship. In 2018, Nicklaus joked that if he had known Tiger would surpass his win total there, he would have teed it up more at the historic venue. Why did Nicklaus own such an impressive record at Firestone, regarded as one of the fiercest tests in golf? He credited a comfort level at Ohio courses, calling it a course that demanded long drives and a precise iron game, which favored his strengths, and an uptick in support. 'I enjoyed playing in front of family, in front of friends, and close to home,' he said. 'And that's where I started.' Firestone was where Nicklaus first became acquainted with the professional tournament game, at the age of 18, making his PGA Tour debut at the 1958 Rubber City Open. That week, Nicklaus and his then girlfriend, now longtime wife, Barbara, drove every day to Akron and back to Columbus, Ohio, where they were students at Ohio State University. 'We drove about an hour and 45 minutes every day,' Nicklaus said. 'I couldn't stay up there with her. Yeah, that was not acceptable.' It was practically unheard of how well he played as a teen against the pros, a harbinger of what was to come. Nicklaus raced out of the gates with rounds of 67-66 at the par-70 layout and sat in third place behind Art Wall and reigning U.S. Open champion Tommy Bolt, who taught Nicklaus a lesson in the art of gamesmanship the next day when they were paired together. 'He put his arm around me as we walked off the first tee and said, 'Jack, don't you worry about anything, old Tommy will take care of you out here.' He was giving me the old needle to get rid of young kids,' Nicklaus said. 'I proceeded to miss a bunch of short putts and I shot 41 on the front nine and Tommy never bothered to put his arm around my shoulder again. … I shot 76.' Nicklaus fired a closing 68, playing with Julius Boros, another future member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, and finishing 15th. Nicklaus resumed his college and amateur career with a boost of confidence. 'The impression I took was that I probably could survive in that arena if I wanted to, and that I would probably enjoy it if I ever made such a decision,' he recalled. 'I learned that golf was really a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed playing with those guys and that I wanted to get better at the game, so I could compete against them.' By the 1975 PGA Championship, Nicklaus already was 35 years old and had won a major in the Buckeye state, victorious at the 1973 PGA Championship at Canterbury Golf Club. Seventeen years after his Tour debut in the 'Rubber City' and 13 triumphs in the majors later, Nicklaus was licking his chops to play at Firestone, the 7,180-yard host of the 57th PGA Championship and site of a major for the third time in 15 years. Robert Trent Jones Sr. had renovated the famed layout ahead of hosting the 1960 PGA Championship and Nicklaus had underwhelmed in finishing T-22 at the 1966 PGA there. He'd already won the World Series of Golf four times as well as the American Golf Classic here. With opening rounds of 70 and 68, Nicklaus trailed Bruce Crampton, who was forced to leave the tour for six weeks earlier in the year with a back injury, by four shots. Seventy-one players made the weekend at 8-over 148 and were chasing Crampton, who stood at 6-under 134. The wiry Australian's second-round 63 at the narrow, tree-lined layout set the Firestone (South) course record and at the time established the lowest round in Championship history. 'It's an honor to be leading the PGA Championship,' Crampton said. 'I just wish it was Sunday night and I had a three-stroke lead. That about sums it up.' But on Saturday, Crampton's game returned to Earth and Nicklaus made his move. He picked up five shots in the first seven holes, including rolling in a 25-foot birdie at the par-3 seventh, to assume the lead and never relinquished it. But there was at least one dicey moment that nearly flipped the tournament on its head. 'I think the memory that sticks out most is making a par at 16, when it didn't look like I would,' Nicklaus said. That's because his drive during the third round at the 625-yard, par-5, known for its relentless length and difficulty, steered left and into a creek and resulted in a one-stroke penalty. Arnold Palmer had carded a disastrous triple bogey at the hole during the 1960 PGA, earning the nickname the 'Monster,' and a plaque is positioned on the bridge near the 16th green in honor of Palmer's playful moniker. Would the Monster sink its teeth into Nicklaus after he dropped near the water, and spoil his pursuit of victory too? 'It's a little dish over there,' Nicklaus said. 'All I could do was hit it out to the right.' Unfortunately, his 6-iron flew too far right and his third shot strayed into more trouble, coming to rest behind a looming maple tree 135 yards out. Nicklaus faced a daunting task for his fourth shot on the hole. He had to hoist his ball over the 30-foot-tall tree from a spot of bother and carry the pond fronting the turtle-shell shaped green. Nicklaus could hear ABC's Bob Rosberg, the former PGA Championship winner, whispering his commentary. 'I overheard him say, 'Well, he's dead here; He's got absolutely no chance. I don't know what he's going to do.' And I went ahead and just hit it right over the top of the tree, on the green,' Nicklaus recalled. Chris Schenkel, ABC's lead commentator in the booth, was duly impressed, especially after Nicklaus poured in the 30-foot putt for an improbable par. 'Jack Nicklaus has just demonstrated what separates him from other golfers,' he said. Nicklaus charged ahead with a 67, while Crampton soared to 75 for an eight-shot swing, giving Nicklaus a four-shot lead going into the final round. Spotting the Golden Bear that big of a lead usually didn't end well for his competitors. After an up-and-down beginning with two bogeys and a birdie in his first three holes, Nicklaus skated along with a string of pars and added a birdie at No. 11. Nicklaus sank a 20-foot birdie at 15 while Crampton took three putts at 15, missing from less than 3 feet for par, when he could ill afford it. That stretched the lead back to four strokes and sealed the deal for Nicklaus. A double bogey at the last just trimmed the final margin to two, leaving Crampton a bridesmaid to Nicklaus for the fourth time in a major. 'We all suffer from human deficiencies; Jack Nicklaus just suffers from fewer of them,' said Crampton, who would win 14 Tour titles and another 20 times on the Champions Tour. 'He wouldn't have made a six at the last hole if he'd needed something better.' Nicklaus was asked by Golf Digest's Dan Jenkins if that were true, what Crampton had said. 'I wouldn't have,' he said, winking. A Hall of Fame cast, including, fellow Buckeye Tom Weiskopf, Billy Casper, Hale Irwin, Gene Littler and Tom Watson, all made runs at the title but came up short, finishing in the top 10. Nicklaus signed for a final-round 71 and a 72-hole total of 4-under 276, pushing his string of PGA Championship victories to four — one shy of Walter Hagen's record, which he'd tie in 1980 – and his 14th career major title at the time. It capped off a major season in which he also won the Masters and lost the U.S. and British Opens by a total of three strokes. In case anyone needed to be reminded that Nicklaus was in a class by himself, he served notice once more. 'On the golf course, Jack reminds me of the eye of a storm,' his longtime caddie Angelo Argea once wrote. 'While all around him nerves are splintering and egos are being shattered, he is incredibly calm, at peace with himself in the knowledge of his ability and his past achievements, and in the knowledge that, win or lose, life will go on.' Sons Steve and Jackie joined Barbara on the green for a family picture with the Wanamaker Trophy. During his acceptance speech, Nicklaus thanked officials, sponsors, the superintendent, fans and then Argea, who was raised 15 miles away in Canton and learned to caddie at a nearby course. Argea strutted out on the green, waving to the spectators and went to grab the microphone from Nicklaus, who whispered to him to take a seat. 'I don't have to tell you that I turned the color of an over-ripe tomato injected with Red Dye No. 2,' he recalled in his autobiography 'The Bear and I.' This was Nicklaus's moment to take a bow and 50 years later he hasn't forgotten the time a Golden Bear handled the Monster and roared to victory at the 1975 PGA Championship.
USA Today
08-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
These 14 past champions are playing in the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club
These 14 past champions are playing in the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club The second men's major of the year has a loaded field. The 2025 PGA Championship will have 156 players in all, and its field is always considered to be the strongest in the game. As the PGA of America notes, this year's event at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, will have 29 major winners, 14 past PGA Championship winners, three members of the World Golf Hall of Fame and three Ryder Cup captains. Past PGA Championship winners in the 2025 field Keegan Bradley Jason Day Jason Dufner Padraig Harrington Martin Kaymer Brooks Koepka Rory McIlroy Shaun Micheel Phil Mickelson Collin Morikawa Xander Schauffele Vijay Singh Justin Thomas Jimmy Walker PGA Championship winners since 1958 The PGA was a match-play event from 1916 to 1957 but switched to stroke play in 1958.
USA Today
04-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Record setter: Scottie Scheffler wins CJ Cup Byron Nelson in a rout
Record setter: Scottie Scheffler wins CJ Cup Byron Nelson in a rout There's no place like home to win for the first time this season. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler clicked his heels and reminded everyone who's the sheriff on the PGA Tour with a relentless performance at his hometown event, the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Scheffler fired a final-round 8-under 63 at TPC Craig Ranch in the Dallas suburb of McKinney, Texas, on Sunday to win by eight strokes over Erik van Rooyen. Twenty-two years ago, Scheffler had his picture taken with Nelson, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, at this event. Eleven years later, he made his PGA Tour debut at this event, making the cut, and has supported the event ever since with the exception of last year when he was awaiting the birth of his first child. 'This tournament has been good to me over the years,' Scheffler said. 'It was my first professional start in 2014. They gave me a spot when I was in high school. Had a great week. This tournament means a lot to me. I grew up coming out here to watch." Scheffler, 28, set a host of tournament records along the way, including a 72-hole scoring mark of 31-under 253, which also tied the Tour's all-time 72-hole scoring mark. 'It doesn't matter where you're playing if you're pushing it past 30 under that's absolutely ridiculous, and that's what he's doing,' Jordan Spieth said. Scheffler collected his 14th Tour title and his first official victory since the Tour Championship in Augusta. (He also won the Hero World Challenge, an official event, in December.) But Scheffler injured his right hand in a freak accident on Christmas while making ravioli. He required surgery and missed a couple of early-season events. He recorded five top-10 finishes, including a second place at the Texas Children's Houston Open, and hadn't finished outside the top 25 in eight starts this season, but hadn't tasted victory. Scheffler went wire-to-wire, opening with 10-under 61, following it up with 63 and admittedly lacking his 'A' game on Saturday shot a ho-hum 66. The last golfer to have an eight-shot lead on the PGA Tour through 54 holes? Rory McIlroy at the 2011 U.S. Open. '(Scottie's) the best player in the world for a reason,' said Adam Schenk, who finished T-5. 'I try to think of a situation where it's an advantage to me to catch up to him tomorrow and I really can't come up with one – unless I just make a whole bunch of putts.' With the exception of bogeys at the third and 17th holes, Scheffler never took his foot off the gas and continued his birdie binge, dropping circles on the card at four of the first seven holes. At the par-5 ninth, Scheffler added a 21-foot eagle for good measure. Van Rooyen, a South African, eagled No. 9 to shoot 30 on the front but didn't trim his deficit. He holed a 56-foot eagle at No. 14 to shoot 8-under 63 and win the tournament's 'B flight.' Scheffler was unstoppable, making birdies on three of the first six holes to start the back nine. For the week, he ranked first in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, SG: Approach the Green and proximity to the hole. Scheffler made the game look as easy as the tournament namesake, who once won 11 straight tournaments. Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee went so far as to compare Scheffler's tee-to-green game to Tiger Woods in his heyday. 'I never thought I'd say that, I never thought I'd see that but tee to green he's Tiger Woods,' Chamblee said. Scheffler's putter wasn't too shabby either, ranking first in the final round and fifth for the week. Another hometown hero, Jordan Spieth, who battled the 36-hole cutline, fired a bogey-free 62 and finished fourth. But he still couldn't sniff Scheffler. 'He's just playing the golf he's played over the last few years,' Spieth said. 'He's hitting the fairway and then ironing it maybe better than anybody ever has and lets the birdies come to him. The courses become really easy once you have an average of like 10 feet for birdie. Golf becomes pretty easy. When he's like this and he's making putts, you have to somehow find an advantage over him.' But at the CJ Cup, Scheffler was a man among boys and sent a message to Rory McIlroy and anyone else thinking of winning the PGA Championship in two weeks, that he's back and ready to do battle for more majors.
