in Golf Articles

Tiger will sit it out

Tiger Woods might extend his PGA Tour winning streak to six tournaments, but he won’t get a chance to do it this weekend. That’s because Woods is skipping this week’s , the Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Ontario.

nd Woods isn’t the only one taking a pass on the hilly, tree-lined course nestled in the center of the Hamilton suburb. Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, and Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman aren’t making the trip to Ancaster either, while John Daly, Chris DiMarco, Ben Crane, and Vance Veazey all withdrew from the tournament late on Tuesday afternoon.

Who’s going to be there? Defending Canadian Open champion Mark Calcavecchia, plus other past winners Vijay Singh, Bob Tway, Steve Jones, Dudley Hart, Mark O’Meara, Nick Price, and David Frost. Price has won this event twice, in both 1991 and 1994 at Glen Abbey Golf Club. Tway was the winner at Hamilton CC back in 2003.

Other name players teeing it up on Thursday include Stewart Cink, Brad Faxon, Zach Johnson, Fred Funk, Jim Furyk, Trevor Immelman and Jesper Parnevik. However, the fans lining the course will be hoping one of their own comes out on top on Sunday, so both Stephen Ames and Mike Weir will be getting a lot of support this week.

That Canadian duo represents the country’s best bets to repatriate the Open title (a Canuck golfer hasn’t won this tournament since Pat Fletcher did it back in 1954). Weir, of course, is Canada’s best-known golfer, having won The Masters in 2003. He ranks 26th on the PGA Tour’s money list this season with $1.81 million, and sits 37th in the world rankings. Weir finished in sixth place at the PGA Championship, tied for sixth at the U.S. Open, tied for 11th at The Masters, and struggled to 56th at the British Open.

Ames hasn’t been as good in the major tournaments this season, but he sits ahead of Weir in both tour winnings and the world rankings. Ames has won $2.39 million on the PGA Tour this season, good for 14th place on the list, and he’s ranked No. 31 in the world. His best major result of 2006 was at The Masters, where he also tied for 11th. Ames finished tied for 41st place at the British Open, and tied for 55th place at the PGA Championship. He missed the cut at the U.S. Open, but won the Players Championship.

And both Weir and Ames will benefit from Woods’ absence, both in chances to win and media exposure. However, tournament organizers would’ve really liked to have the world’s best golfer (and a past Canadian Open champion) playing on a course that he’s called one of his favorites. In fact, many PGA members sing the praises of the Ancaster layout, but the tourney’s date doesn’t really work out well for the top golfers’ schedules.

The Royal Canadian Golf Association is hoping that next year’s tournament - which will be held in July - will attract a better field. But being stuck in a four-week span that also includes the British Open, a World Golf Championship event, and the PGA Championship might result in the Canadian Open weekend being used as a break for many top players. Expect the RCGA to clamor for another date change in the next year.

And what will Woods be doing with his time off this weekend? Perhaps resting on his laurels. Last weekend’s win at the Deutsche Bank Championship clinched him the PGA Player of the Year award for 2006 - an accolade he has picked up eight times in the past 10 years. Or he could go shopping - his $8.64 million in tour winnings this season puts him atop that list by a large margin. His next scheduled event is the HSBC World Match Play Championship, and he’ll then be a part of Team USA in the ‘06 Ryder Cup.