Tiger aims to regain winning ways at happy hunting ground

Tiger aims to regain winning ways at happy hunting ground

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July 25, 2013 7:01 PM

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Tiger Woods of the U.S. (L) shakes hands with his former caddie Steve Williams, after finishing his final …


(Reuters) - Frustrated after a wasted opportunity to win last week's British Open, Tiger Woods will be back in PGA Touraction for next week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at one of his favorite venues as he hunts a fifth victory this year.

American Woods has triumphed a record seven times at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio where he will also be looking to build momentum for the season's final major, the PGA Championship to be played the following week.

"This is one of my favorite courses," world number oneWoods said on his website (http://web.tigerwoods.com/) about the tree-lined venue for the elite World Golf Championships (WGC) event.

"There is nothing tricky about it; everything is right in front of you. And the fans do a great job of supporting the event."

Woods will aim to return to the PGA Tour winner's circle, having tied for sixth in last week's British Open at Muirfield in Scotland where his bid for a 15th major title unraveled in the final round as he closed with a three-over-par 74.


He was happy with his overall game at Muirfield, though he struggled with his putting, especially in the final round.

"The whole week, I really hit so many good shots and really had control of my ball," the 37-year-old told reporters. "The frustrating part is I didn't get the (putting) speed.

"I'm very pleased with the way I'm playing, there's no doubt. I'm right there. We have the World Golf Championship here at (Firestone) a golf course I like, and I've had a little bit of success on it. I'm looking forward to that."

Woods has not won a major title since his remarkable playoff victory at the 2008 U.S. Open where he was severely hampered by a double stress fracture in his left shinbone.

However, he has displayed excellent form on the PGA Tour this year, winning four times in just 10 starts, and ranks first in FedExCup points, money earnings and scoring.

The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational will be played from August 1-4.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Golf-Man of Steele in charge at Canadian Open

Golf-Man of Steele in charge at Canadian Open

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July 25, 2013 8:06 PM


* Late starters struggle in tougher afternoon conditions

* American Kuchar lurks one shot off the pace (Recasts at end of round)

By Steve Keating

OAKVILLE, Ontario July 25 (Reuters) - American Brendan Steele took full advantage of ideal early scoring conditions to forge a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Canadian Open on Thursday.

Playing the back nine first on a calm, sunny morning atGlen Abbey Golf Club, Steele mixed eight birdies with a single bogey for a seven-under 65 that left him a shot clear of compatriots Matt Kuchar and Scott Brown and Australian Scott Gardiner.

As breezes stiffened and conditions toughened for the afternoon starters no one managed to come close to nudging Steele, 30, from the top of the leaderboard.

Steele, whose has just one PGA Tour win, had three birdies on his outward nine on the Jack Nicklaus-designed layout and picked up the pace after the turn with five birdies over seven holes before dropping his only shot of the day at the ninth.

Kuchar, the highest ranked player in the field at world number six, mixed an eagle with five birdies and a bogey while Brown turned in a flawless round with six birdies.


"It was perfect conditions," smiled Kuchar, who has made 20 consecutive cuts, including all 16 starts this season. "I feel like last week, conditions were so challenging and so difficult at the British Open to come here and play golf that is more friendly and more what we are use to was great."

Gardiner, who has made the cut just twice in his last 16 events, began his day with a par then reeled off six consecutive birdies to race up the leaderboard.

The Australian's red-hot start cooled with seven consecutive pars before he picked up another birdie at 15 followed by his only bogey of the day at 16.

American Hunter Mahan and Swede David Lingmerth were a further shot back after returning 67s while Chez Reavie, whose only career PGA Tour win game at Glen Abbey in 2008, and former Masters champions Bubba Watson and Trevor Immelman were among a large pack three off the pace.

"The first two days the afternoon wave is going to be tougher for sure," said Mahan. "In the morning the greens are pure and the wind is not blowing quite as hard."

Indeed, some of the tournament's biggest names were left floundering in the breezy conditions with former world number one Luke Donald of Britain (73), twice Canadian Open champion Jim Furyk (72) and 2010 U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell (76) all failing to break par.

American Woody Austin, who fired four sub-par rounds of 70 last week at the Sanderson Farms Championships to claim his first PGA Tour title in six years, crashed to the bottom of the leaderboard with a 10-over 82.

Reigning champion Scott Piercy began his title defense with 10 straight pars before signing for a one-under 71.

Without a homegrown winner in 59 years, local fans were out in full force to offer their support but could not inspire the Canadian contingent to anything better than a three-under 69 from Brad Fritsch that left him four back of the leader. (Editing by Frank Pingue)

Golf-Canadian club on the rocks after opening round

Golf-Canadian club on the rocks after opening round

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July 25, 2013 8:28 PM


By Steve Keating

OAKVILLE, Ontario, July 25 (Reuters) - The search for a home-grown winner of the Canadian Open looked poised to stretch into a sixth decade after the local contingent failed to make an impression on the first round leaderboard on Thursday.

Only once in the last 99 years has a native son claimed the national title and that was back in 1954 when Pat Fletcherended what was then a 50-year barren run with a victory at Vancouver's Point Grey Golf and Country Club.

Local fans were out in force offering their support on a brilliant sunny day at the Glen Abbey Golf Club but they could not inspire the Canadian contingent to anything better than a three-under-par 69 from Brad Fritsch.

That left him four strokes behind pacesetting American Brendan Steele, who took advantage of ideal early scoring conditions to return an eight-birdie 65.

"I feel like I've played well, I feel like I hit the ball great off the tee," said Fritsch, who closed his round with three straight birdies. "The stats won't say it, but I think I missed, you know, five or six fairways probably by a foot."

Eighteen Canadians teed off on Thursday but only four - Fritsch, David Hearn (70), Roger Sloan (71) and amateur Corey Conners (71) - broke par.

ROLLER-COASTER MORNING


Graham DeLaet, the top-ranked Canadian in the field and considered the country's best hope to end the long drought, had a roller-coaster morning that included a triple-bogey seven at the 14th before he birdied his final hole for a level-par 72.

"It was pretty Jekyll and Hyde," said world number 67 DeLaet, who is also battling for a spot on the International team that will take on the United States at the Presidents Cup in October.

"I hit a couple of bad tee shots, had a couple of plugged bunkers and a three-putt from four-feet but other than that I made six birdies. I made enough birdies to shoot a good round, I just had too many poor swings in there.

"You want to play well, you don't want to get behind the eight-ball and I feel I kind of am a little bit with that even par because it was pretty scoreable out there today.

"At the same time, I didn't shoot myself out of it. It was nice to finish with a birdie to kind of make lunch taste a little better."

Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion who is on the comeback trail after a series of injuries, battled to a one-over 73 but declared himself satisfied with his effort.

The little lefty may have lost some of his form but none of his confidence as he looked ahead to the weekend.

"I could have easily been six, seven, eight under, who knows," said Weir. "You get rolling. You have a good putting day and that's a 63. I feel like I can make a charge tomorrow morning." (Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)