We entered our gate and quickly noticed on the leader board that Carl Pettersson, of Gothenburg, Sweden, was currently 8 under par for the day after barely making the cut at -1 just a day earlier. He was playing Hole 15 where we started watching him. After an excellent tee shot of over 300 yards, he capped the hole off with another birdie to go 9 under. You could see his confidence in his facial expressions, that he was on a roll, and that he needed to just keep moving. Our group decided we could be witnessing history, so we made the decision to follow him the rest of the way. On 16, he played an amazing up and down out of the rough for par, and followed that with another birdie on 17 to go 10 under for the day! Simply amazing – a shot at a score of 59; of which only 4 players in PGA history have ever done. Walking with him down 18 was truly exciting, his approach shot was just short of the green and it looked as though the he may have to settle for the 60. In fact we commented that he should play it safe and get down in two. Carl Petersson had no such thoughts; and with a marvelous putt lipped the cup that brought gasps of admiration from the Canadian crowd.
Pettersson carded a 10 under par 60 Saturday morning to establish a new course record and assume the lead of the RBC Canadian Open. In the third group out, Pettersson bogeyed the par-4 second hole before reeling off seven birdies and two eagles to best the old course record of 62, which was set by Brent Delahoussaye on Thursday and matched by Kevin Sutherland Friday. Pettersson shot 29 on the back nine alone. Coming into the week, Canadian George Knudson had the competitive course record of 64. Some info for St. Marys Golf fans. Rick Fifield holds the course record at the St. Marys Golf and Country Club. Rick shot an impressive 61 (11-under par), twice!
Watching him play those last four holes is why live sports is still the best; seeing his passion, his love of the game. and his zeal to win - you couldn’t help but hope for the guy to score his record round.
Although the rest of the day was somewhat anti-climatic after Pettersson’s record performance (and quite wet with the rain), seeing these guys play is truly inspiring – they are that good. And our golf courses in Canada are that good as well.
Saturday made it fun to follow his final round on Sunday on XM satellite radio and I felt a small part of Pettersson's victory after watching him play those last four holes on Saturday. Petterson persevered once again on Sunday after trailing by five strokes going into the final 10 holes, to take the RBC Canadian Open back to Sweden.
The Championship is the fourth career PGA Tour title for Pettersson and his first win in Canada gains him an invitation to this year's PGA Championship.
Some other notes from the Open:
The 2010 RBC Canadian Open was held at St. George's Golf and Country Club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The course has hosted the Canadian Open on four occasions and is rated one of the top three courses in the country. The course was built in 1929 for use by guests of the Royal York Hotel and was designed by Stanley Thompson
Did you know that the traditional clubhouse is actually located across the road from the course on Islington Ave.?
John Daly was never really a factor but his ‘Holstein look’ black and white pants were eye catching; particularly when his wife was witnessed wearing an almost identical ‘spotted’ skirt
Adam Hadwin of Abbortsford, BC, playing in his first ever PGA event, was the top Canadian and was awarded the Rivermead Cup. He finished as the low Canadian with a score of 5-under-par 275, which was good enough for tied for 37th
The RBC Canadian Open will return to Ontario after next year's trip out west to Shaughnessy, as Hamilton G&CC was announced as the 2012 host of the Open
RBC should be commended for their sponsorship of the Canadian Open. They have invested their time and their money to resurrect the tournament and to someday help make the Open one of the premier stops on the PGA Tour
Written by Rob Staffen
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