Rick Todd on his star pupil.. Chris Baryla ... Weir and Ames are at the Honda.

I haven't spoke with Chris this week but when I looked at the fields for the PGA tour's Honda and the Nationwide's event in Bogota I saw he was listed in both, and I feared the worst after the tour made it's first priority list shuffle of the year on Monday

The PGA Tour shuffles the priority list five times a year. Good play is rewarded, poor play is punished. Chris has missed the cut in all 5 outings this year after finishing 11th at Q school.

He now finds himself 50th on the priority list,  Matt McQuillan (No. 44) and David Hearn (No. 36)

Canadian Rick Todd was Baryla's coach for 4 years at UTEP..I spoke with him about Chris's slow start..

Rick : Chris has MC in his first 5 outings. What do you see as the problem thus far ??
 I think the major problem for Chris is just feeling comfortable out on tour. What I mean by this is you have new city, don’t know where to stay and eat. Most of all you have a Golf course you have never played and getting to see it 1 time before you play on Thursdays is a big adjustment.


Is he the best golfer you have coached ?
Chris is by far the best I coached at UTEP not only for talent but course management and a great golf IQ which goes along way in this game.

You watch all of our Canucks and you see Weirsy struggling right now. If he asked you for advice what would you say ?
Yes, Mike weir has been struggling but he has had this injury for longer than I think he has let on. I would tell him keep working hard and it will all fall into place, he is not DONE!!!! To good a person and player worldwide

How did a Scarborough guy end up as the golf coach at UTEP ?
This is where college golf started for me back in 1983 where I came on a scholarship. The opening came back 12 years ago and after playing all over the world I decided to take this job spend more time with my family and cut down on the travel, only flying a couple of hours instead of 24 hours flying time to places in Asia, took a toll on my body I have 1 Canadian in my program as of right now his name is Luke Ovenden from the Georgetown area, first year here and on the travelling team and playing quite well right now. Always looking for Canadians to come south to play golf

Thanks Rick...Baryla, Bryan DeCorso, Richard T. Lee and Andrew Parr will be our Canucks in Bogota.

PGA Tour.

Meanwhile Stephen Ames and Mike Weir are in the field at the Honda at PGA National in Palm Beach. Matt McQuillan was an alternative but did not make the field.

Westwood (2) Donald (3) and McDowell (4) are in a very strong field, with the a lot of the European guys playing here (States) until the WGC event next week at the Blue Monster at Doral.

Neither Martin Kaymer nor Tiger Woods are in the field..

Event: Honda Classic

Where: PGA National Resort and Spa, Champion Course (7,158 yards, par 70) in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Purse: $5.7 million; winner's share: $1,026,000.
Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday 2-5 p.m., Saturday-Sunday noon-2 p.m) and NBC (Saturday-Sunday, 2-5 p.m.)
Last year: Colombia's Camilo Villegas won his third PGA Tour title, finishing at 13 under for a five-stroke victory over Anthony Kim

This Nicklaus designed course has arguably the 5 toughest finishing holes on tour, and the "Bear Trap" are the par 3 15th, par 4 16th and another par 3, 17th all playing over water usually into a tough wind..

The European Tour, Champions Tour and the LPGA are off this week

Bryan Angus