Connors/Hughes "need something special" at weather delayed Tokyo 2020... full leaderboard

Tokyo 2020 : Men's Golf  leaderboard here.

When thunder storms finally halted play at 5.30pm (local) after another hot muggy day, Mac Hughes who posted an unimpressive +1 72 -1,T39 total, looked back on his round and said " I'm further back than where I started, I have a huge hill to climb this weekend."

Usually blessed with a good short game he continued "I haven't been my self on the greens, my putter has gone a little cold."

Always the optimist he said "So if I can get that heated up, and bottle some of my good swings you never know, that's why we play 4 rounds, I'll give it my best over the next 2 days and we'll see what happens"

I'm going to need to be a bit more aggressive on the weekend, kinda go for broke a bit, nothing to lose I guess"

He is 10 shots behind leader Xander Schauffele who  is -11 after a  Friday 63.

Corey Connors isn't much better, he was E through 16 holes when play was suspended, he's at -2 T34.

He is one of 16 players who will return early on Saturday (7.45am) to finish his round, the field will then be paired in 3's off split tee's beginning at 9.30 local with more hot, muggy, thundery weather in for the weekend.

Mexican Carlos Ortiz is 2nd at -10, while Sweden's Alex Noren 67 67 is 3rd at -8.

So on the bright side neither player has had their "A" game yet, so can do much better, but they both will need something special for 2 rounds if they want to be amongst the medals.

Bryan Angus 

Connors, Hughes in the pack T20 after first round at Tokyo 2020... full scoreboard

 Tokyo 2020: Men's Golf leaderboard here

In the Men's Golf preview the hot humid weather expected for Tokyo reached 39*causing tennis star Alex Medvedev to require emergency treatment on court before he passed out.

Corey Connors and Mac Hughes ended the opening day in a large pack at 69 -2, T20 six shots behind leader Austrian Sepp Straka who made all his putts in a bogey free -8 63.

Connors got his round done with a birdie on the18th, before the dangerous weather set in for over 2 hours.

" I drove the ball really well, but was just a bit off with my irons and didn't give myself opportunities for birdie with them, but I know the way I'm driving it Ill give myself lots of chances, and am looking forward to the next 3 days."

He admits he was tentative on the soft greens, "they are in immaculate condition but there's a lot of slope on them, so they were rolling a bit quicker today and I didn't want to get greedy out there and jam them by, so I had to be cautious on some putts" 

Hughes had 2 birdies and a bogey to turn -1, and did the same on the back, although he had to wait with 3 holes to play for the weather delay.

"I was playing nicely before the delay, didn't feel the same after it, but overall a decent start, didn't put myself out of it. So the next 2 days will be important to give myself a chance on Sunday. I know I played well enough to shoot 5 or 6 under, a few putts here and there and you're right back in it."

Connors is off at 10.36 today, Hughes earlier at 7.52 local time. 

Weather: More hot humid weather with rain and T'Storms expected both today and over the weekend. 31* feeling like 40*c.

When you check the leaderboard I've listed above, you'll see what a truly Olympic flavour it has with Austria on top. Thailand, Jazz Janewattananond 64, Belgium, with Thomas Pieters 65, Mexico, Carlos Ortiz 65, Denmark, Joachim Hansen 66 and so forth. 

The top Americans T12 -3 68 Xander Schauffele and Patrick Reed, then you'll find Rory McIlroy in that big pack with our Canadians at T20 -2 69.

Bryan Angus 

 

Hadwin's timely T6, Canadians golf schedule in Tokyo..Olympic Golf Rankings...UPDATED

PGA Tour:  3M Open final leaderboard here 

 A very timely T6 at the weekend's 3M Open in Minnesota should cement Adam Hadwin's place in the Fed Ex Cup playoffs.

Four rounds at -11 including a 73 68 weekend has him at 107th in the standings, up from 120th.

The top 125 begin the first round of the playoffs in 3 weeks.

It looks like Roger Sloan who T16th after a shaky finish on Sunday has moved from 147th to 137th. He seems likely to join David Hearn and Michael Gligic in the Korn Ferry playoffs to try to keep their PGA Tour status next season.

Men's Olympic Golf schedule :   (all tee times  here )

60 players from 35 countries expected, it's 4 rounds of stroke play, 18 holes per day, lowest score wins. Kasumigaseki CC.

Play begins 7.30am (local) Friday July 29 - Sunday August 1.

One spot reserved for Japan (host) and 5 others (one from each continent) are reserved.

Top 60 in world rankings, most countries will have 2 players, but you may have 3 or 4 if in the top 15. (USA)

MacKenzie Hughes tees off at 9.47am with Alex Noren (Sweden), Jazz Janewattananond (Thailand) while Corey Connors is at 8.41am with Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) and Marc Leishman (Australia)

All times are local, Japan is 13 hours ahead of EST.

Women's Olympic Golf schedule:

* same as men's except play begins Wednesday August 4 - Saturday August 7, same course. (important since Brooke and Alena will discuss how to play the  course with Corey and Mac from the week before)

Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp for Canada

• OLYMPIC GOLF RANKINGS

Bryan Angus

Sloan Hadwin, Henderson off to good starts....live leaderboards..

LPGA: With the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Opening ceremony underway inside the empty, cavernous stadium, Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp our Olympic women's team both got off to good starts at the Amundi Evian Championships at Lake Geneva in France, with -2 69's. 

"I wanted to get off to a good start, and I putted really well today. I just need to hit a few more greens, make some more birdies, I'm excited for the next 3 days" said Brooke in her post round interview.

Live scoreboard here

PGA Tour: Neither of our men's Olympians, Corey Connors or Mac Hughes is playing the 3M Championship in Blaine Minnesota, however the 4 guys who are, are in danger of missing the PGA Tour playoffs.

Roger Sloan

Roger Sloan played 16 holes before darkness suspended play T4 -6. Adam Hadwin is T10 -4 67, Michael Gligic T38 -2 69 and David Hearn T83 E 71.  

Live scoreboard here

European Legends Tour: David Morland is T66 +2 72 with round 2 underway at the Senior Open at historic Sunningdale GC in Berkshire, England.

Darren Clarke at -7, Ernie Els -6 and Jerry Kelly at -5 are the leaders. 

Live scoreboard here

 

COVID challenges, Canadians at The Senior Open, The Amundi Evian Championship...TEE TIMES

Negotiating COVID travel restrictions have put paid to our lives for the last 18 months, pro sports including golf are no different, stars like Rory and DJ are among those who would never turn  down a chance to represent their country are not going to Japan for the Olympics for example. 

However things are slowly getting better, as countries get assurances from organizers that they have strictly enforced all safety "bubble" protocols, and as a result the Toronto Blue Jays for example will finally be allowed to return home to play at the Rogers Center later this month.

This week the Senior Open is all set to go at beautiful Sunningdale GC outside London, England and David Morland is the only Canadian in the field, Mike Weir and Stephen Ames are notable by their absence, I can only assume they couldn't make it to this most prestigious championship.... Click here for tee times Tee Times

Meanwhile, high in the French Alps overlooking Lake Geneva, it is the Amundi Evian Championship which has been the 5th major on the LET/LPGA Tours since 2013.

Brooke Henderson who has been as reluctant to travel due to COVID as anyone on the LPGA tour has made the trip and is in the field with Alena Sharp who is replacing Mel Reid who WD. They both will then fly from France to Tokyo to represent Canada at  the Olympics.

Their tee times here

Bryan Angus

Hughes/Connors stars on the rise...prize money.. final scoreboard

 The Open: final scoreboard here.

While both Corey Connors and MacKenzie Hughes began their final rounds at Royal St George's with 2 bogey's and received some poorly advised criticism, the truth is Mac's 69 -8 T6 and Corey's 73,-5 T15 were fabulous results, and even better learning experiences as these Canadians stars continue to rise.

Experiences that are about to continue as they get on a plane for Tokyo in a week to represent Canada at the made for TV Olympics.

Mac, now 30, summed up his week like this, "I would have loved to play a bit better over the last 2 days, but overall I am pretty pleased with my efforts. Remember earlier this year he lost a close match in the round of 16 to Sergio in the WGC World Match Play, and after being tied for the lead at the US Open after 3 rounds, ended up T15. He now has a world ranking of 53rd.

Listen to what 29 year old Corey  had to say after 3 bogey's on his last nine left him 3 over. " There was definitely some nerves out there today, I just plugged away and stayed patient. It was more of a battle than I'd hoped for, it was a good learning experience"

After a great run on the Florida swing, a T8 at Augusta, T17 at the PGA Championship, now T15 at the Open are all solid confidence builders, playing with the lead at times, falling just short all bode well for this young Canadian whose is now ranked 36th in the world.

Hughes earned $386,500, Connors $143,063 while Collin Morikawa took home just over $2m for his 2 stroke win. Morikawa is a joy to watch, getting the absolute most out of his small stature, and as important has a demeanor that  prompted Lorne Rubenstein to tweet " Watching Collin Morikawa makes me wish I was back to writing in the paper about golf again, graceful in his play, generous in his remarks"

This week the PGA Tour stops at the 3M Open in Minnesota before the Olympics golf competition begins July 29-August 1 at the Kasumigaseki CC in Saitama, Japan.

ps. Thanks to my old pal Nick Dye from ET Radio for all his audio clips from Mac and and Corey throughout the week at the Open.

Bryan Angus

A big Sunday for Canadians, including Connors, Hughes at the Open....live leaderboards

 There are a lot of Canadians to watch for on this Sunday in golf.

Right at the top of the list at the Open, Corey Connors is T4 (68 68 66 -8) and plays with Jordan Spieth in the penultimate pairing (Louis Oosthuizen -12, Collin Morikawa -11) at 9.25est. 

Connors sounds buoyant, cautiously confident " I'm driving it well, ironing well, I know I'll give myself a ton of chances and if I get a few more putts to drop it could be a really special round"

Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners 

Meanwhile, a shot The behind, Mac Hughes T6 (66,69 68 -7) plays again with South African Dylan Frittelli at 9.05est. 

The weather forecast is ideal, sunny, warm 24*c with a slight breeze at 10kph. 

Follow their rounds here

The PGA Tour is in Kentucky for the Barbasol Championship where 3 Canadians are in contention. David Hearn is T7 (67 67 67 -15) just 4 shots off the lead, while Taylor Pendrith (65 68 69 -14) is a shot behind T12 and Michael Gligic has slipped back to 34th (67 68 71 -10)

Taylor Pendrith 

Follow the scoring here.

In Springfield, Ill., on the Korn Ferry Tour, Adam Svensson is T15 -14 at the low scoring Memorial Health Championship where the field's average yesterday was 66.7. He is 7 shots off the lead. Follow the scoring here

Brooke Henderson was in action at the LPGA Dow Great Lakes Invitational team tournament in Midland, Michigan. She was paired with South Korean Gee Chun, and they finished T17 -13 behind the winners, the Jutanugarn sisters Moriya and Ariya at -24.

Alena Sharp and Sarah Kemp The finished T33 -7. Final scoreboard here

The Symetra Tour is in Rochester NY., at the soggy Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic where Rebecca Lee Bentham 69 67 -4 T15 just 4 shots off the lead, Maude Aimee LeBlanc T24 68 69 -3. She is currently 4th in this tour's "Race for the Card"

After torrential rain the tournament has been reduced to 54 holes with players hoping the Brook Lea CC will be playable... Follow the scores here

Bryan Angus

Hughes great T4 start lost by TV coverage of the Open... live scoreboard

 The Open leaderboard here 

Mac Hughes teed off at 4.36am est along with Brian Harmon and Dylan Frittelli, exactly 3 hours after English veteran Richard Bland nervously hit the first drive of the tournament on a gorgeous sunny,  breezy morning at Royal St George's to kick start this 149th Open.

I know, I watched it all.

Harmon the diminutive American lefty proceeded to birdie the first 3 holes, which caught the attention of the TV producers, we saw his 3 birdie putts.

Mac Hughes then birdied 4,5,6 to join him at -3 in the lead and went out in 32, but that all got lost in the Bryson DeChambeau, Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey, Jon Rahm shuffle.

Even after Mac added a birdie at 10 to join Harmon in the lead at -4, then another at 12 to take the outright lead at -5, (we actually saw that putt) did we see him playing at all.

The European live broadcast team handed off at 8am to the NBC/Peacock American team hosted by Terry Gannon, who are at home in Connecticut in studio due to COVID restrictions, and the theme continued as Spieth who got all the coverage out in 32, made a late surge with  birdies at 15,16 to take the lead -5 with a flurry of his round's highlights, only to be caught a passed by Louis Oosthuizen who came home with 4 birdies, 31 to grab the clubhouse lead at -6 64.  

Mac made his first and only bogey at 15 to drop to -4 and it wasn't until Spieth had done his post round interview did we see his threesome actually play some of 16, 17 and 18 where he made a gutsy 6 footer to save par for his -4 66.

His numbers: Driving accuracy 78.57% (field 52.85), Greens in regulation 83.33% (field 64.56%) and average number of putts per green in regulation 1.61 (field 1.64)

While Mac and his group were far from the early wave's "featured pairings" the director and his producers in the truck have an obligation to show us the leaders, at least mixed in with the big boys who were trailing.

Opinion: Mac and Harmon were the story along with Spieth on the front 9, Mac even more so when he lead alone from 12th -15th. The non coverage is not new to Canadian golf fans, but not to feature the leader with the superb round he was producing was simply shameful, in fact unprofessional.

Canadian scores as I post: Corey Connors -1 (3 birdies, 1 double out in 34), Richard T Lee +3 thru 8, Adam Hadwin +4  (5 bogey's out in 40, 1 birdie so far) thru 12.

The late wave including Rory are now on course.

Bryan Angus

Great weeks for Weirsy, Ames at US Senior Open... final scoreboard

 US Senior Open final scoreboard here.

I have been working since last Thursday, didn't have access to my computer so a belated congratulations to a great finish at the US Senior Open in Omaha, by Weirsy and a good week overall by Stephen Ames.

Mike has always featured well in majors, his 2003 Masters aside, he thrives when the weather is tough and the winning scores just a few shots under par. A wind at tornado strength blew through Omaha, destroying stands and equipment, uprooting trees suspending play in the 3rd round for 3 hours, it was a miracle the staff could get the course ready for play to resume. 

Jim Furyk, won on the weekend at -7 to become one of only a few to win both US Opens (senior and PGA)

However Weirsy closed with the low round of the day 67 to T2 at -4 along with Retief Goosen.

Stephen who was paired with Furyk was amongst the leaders all week with some stellar iron play and streaky putting, but he got into bogey trouble mid round on Sunday and slipped to 75 to finish 8th +1.

Both veteran Canadians are enjoying banner years on the Champions Tour, Weir in his rookie season has been a top 10 machine, both have won and have ensured their status for the next 5 years at least.

Bryan Angus

Open Championship TEE TIMES announced

 The Open Championship

With the rough apparently as thick and juicy at Royal St George's as many have seen it in many years, hitting the fairways will be a priority at the old course down in south eastern England in Sandwich, as opposed to sand wedge, which the players will be using a lot from some phenomenal bunkers to those quirky greens.

The TEE TIMES for Thursday and Friday have just been announced and I have posted them below. The UK is 5 hours ahead so my tee times are all EST, so the telly will be on all night long.

There are 4 Canadians.

Mac Hughes Brian Harmon Dylan Frittelli are off at 4.36am (est)

Adam Hadwin, Billy Horschel, Tony Finau are off at 7.53am

Corey Connors, Collin Morikawa, Sebastien Munoz are off 8.26am

Richard T Lee, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Keegan Bradley are off at 9.04am

Shane Lowry is the defending champion, remember this event was cancelled in 2020.

Shane Lowry is the defending champion, remember this championship was cancelled last year, this year 32,000 will be allowed in on Thursday.

Richard Bland the rejuvenated English veteran hits the first drive at 1.35am.

Weather: There isn't much rain in the early forecast, temperature in the low 20*c, but the wind from the north will be a factor 20-25kph.

Past winners at Royal St George's include Darren Clarke 2011, Ben Curtis 2003, Greg Norman 1993, Sandy Lyle 1985, Bill Rogers 1981, then you have to go back to Bobby Locke in 1949.

In 1894 Harry Taylor won the first of 14, and was paid 30 guineas, this years champion will get over $2m.

Korean Aussie, Min Woo Lee who won the Scottish Championship last week in a 3 man playoff is rewarded with a place in the field,

Dustin Johnson returns to world #1 after Jon Rahm's top10 last week in Scotland.

There are 156 different story lines, I'll be talking about them all week here.

• TEE TIMEs

Early starts tearing up the Renaissance Club, round 2 Scottish Open.. live leaderboard

 European Tour: abrdn Scottish Open Leaderboard

With the calm conditions in North Berwick and a soft Renaissance Club the early wave at this abrdn Scottish Open (that's not a typo, it's the new wave idea of spelling Aberdeen) are continuing to take advantage, with world #1 Jon Rahm leading the way at -10, -5 through 15 holes this morning along with streaky George Coetzee from South Africa who is -5 today -10 total at the turn.

 John Rahm, Justin Thomas

First round leader Jack Senior -7 64 is in the late wave.

Justin Thomas at -9 and Ian Poulter -8 both -3 so far today.

Rory who shot -1 70 on Thursday is only -1 on today's round through 15 holes, -2 total.

With the cut projected at -2, Corey Connors the lone Canadian has a lot of work ahead this afternoon after posting the 2nd worst round yesterday, a +5 76.

There is a lot of rain in the forecast for the weekend, but the winds will remain calm, so expect low scoring to continue.

Bryan Angus

Ames leads US Senior Open..live leaderboard

 Champions Tour: US Senior Open leaderboard  here

Out before the wind came in the early wave at the US Senior Open, on the Omaha CC, Stephen Ames was on his game, hitting 11/13 fairways and 16 greens in regulation, and even with 2 short missed putts at 12, 13 and 17, he posted 7 birdies with 2 bogey's for a -5 65 and a share of the lead with Billy Andrade who  last won in 2015 and has been lost in this senior circuit shuffle recently with just 2 top 10's in 22 starts.

Ames won earlier this season at the Principle Charities Open in Des Moines.

They are a shot ahead of Wes Short and Alex Cjeka who after years travelling the world, a prototype journeyman, has found a home on this tour with 2 major wins already this year is next -3 67 with the 6'5" Swede Robert Karlsson.

Mike Weir is in at E 70 and Lionel Kunka from Kelowna struggled with a +9 79.

Bryan Angus

Brooke Henderson returns to play at Marathon LPGA Classic...live leaderboard

 LPGA: Marathon LPGA Classic leaderboard here

Brooke Henderson is back in action this week in Sylvania, Ohio at the Marathon LPGA Classic, along with Alena Sharp and Jaclyn Lee.

Alena is E through 8 as I post this, Brooke plays with Jessica Korda and Jennifer Kupcho at 1.32pm 1st tee, Jaclyn with Katherine Hollern and Katherine Perry-Hamski.

Stacy Lewis from nearby Toledo, Ohio is back in the field with the family including mom and dad in tow this time, with COVID restrictions being relaxed to allow some fans back in to watch again.

Bryan Angus

Weir, Ames and Kunka at this weeks US Senior Open, live leaderboard

 Champions Tour; US Senior Open leaderboard here 

The best of the Senior circuit who haven't been precluded by any COVID restrictions have gathered in Omaha, Nebraska for the US Senior Open, and Mike Weir, Stephen Ames are joined by a 3rd Canadian, Lionel Kunka, who lives in Kennewick, Washington but is originally from Kelowna.

Lionel Kunka

He has made it through the alternative list and will be playing with John Ogden, Jeffrey Wilson at 1.06 off the 1st tee.

Weir plays with Jim Furyk, Alex Cjeka 1.58pm 10th tee, while Stephen Ames, Darren Clarke and Dicky Pride are off the 1st at 8.39am.

I haven't researched it but noticed that Monty had been missing in action this season, if you know why put it in my comments section. I'm assuming it was COVID restrictions, although he says when he doesn't think he can win anymore he'll buy a couple of golden labs, retire to St Andrews and walk them along the beach. 

Bryan Angus

Help save Toronto City municipal golf courses.... take this survey by July 12,2021

The City of Toronto is asking for a completed online survey from you and the public as part of their review of their golf course operations. They want to hear your experiences at their 5 courses. Survey answers will be used by the Parks and Recreation division's Golf Course Operations Sourcing Strategy that will be submitted to City Council with recommendations for the future operations of the golf courses. 

Dentonia Park Golf Course, Scarborough

As you may know, the City is under pressure for ways to balance the budget and there are those who feel the use of the prime land city courses like Don Valley, Dentonia, Tam O'Shanter, Humber Valley or Scarlett Woods occupy would raise millions of dollars if sold off to developers, usually for even more expensive housing.

City courses are where many of us began to play, and still are the most affordable for the general public, many of whom could never afford join a private club even if they were accepted, or one of the many high end public courses. 

Losing anyone of the five therefore is unacceptable. Please take 5 minutes to complete the survey before July 12th, 2021 by clicking here 

Bryan Angus

  

Canadians making headlines at Wimbledon, Connors TEE TIMES at the Scottish Open...

 European Tour: Aberdeen Investments Scottish Open Tee Times

It's the two weeks or a "fortnight" as they say in Britain that sports fans cherish every summer in the UK. The second week of Wimbledon with all it's drama followed by the Open Championship this year at Royal St. George's GC, the only one to be held in southern England at Sandwich in Kent.

These weeks are a tradition along with the weekend of the Grand National, the famous steeplechase that every granny has a 50p bet on.

At Wimbledon it was a historic Monday for Canada with lefty Denis Shapovalov beating tough #8 seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1 6-3 7-5, followed by a stunning 5 set win by his buddy Felix Auger-Aliassime over the #4 seed Alex Zverev.

Felix Auger- Aliassime

It's the first time in the long history of Wimbledon, two Canadian men have made it to the quarter finals. Auger- Aliassime will play Italian #1 Matteo Berrettini who has won 22/25 matches, while Shapovalov the 2016 junior champion here draws Russian Karen Khachanov, both on Wednesday.

For golf fans in Scotland it's also the week of their national championship, the Aberdeen Investments Scottish Open, this year in North Berwick at the fairly recently built Renaissance Club. I will say most of my golf colleagues over there would rather it was played on the links at the historic North Berwick GC, however we are not paying the bills.

Corey Connors is the lone Canadian he's early, off the 10th tee at 7.50am local, with Scotland's Marc Warren and South African Wilco Nienaber. I can't remember Corey playing this course.

It's a strong field, so regular Canadian, Aaron Cockerill hasn't been included, the featured pairing at 1300hrs (1pm) is Rory, with new world #1 Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas.. 

Aaron Rai from England by way of Kenya and India won here in a playoff last year, after Tommy Fleetwood missed two 3 footers on his last two holes to hand Rai his first win.

With international COVID quarantines playing havoc with travel schedules, Rory, for example, is in the middle of a 3 week tour leaving the wife and Poppy home in Florida. Rory had a lousy weekend at the Irish Open, so should be looking for better things this week before the Open.

Aussie Hebert romps to an Irish Open win.... final leaderboard

 European Tour: Dubai Duty Free Irish Open final Leaderboard

With Rory and his 13 other Irish pals out of contention it was Aussie Lucas Herbert who won by 4 shots earlier today at Mount Julien Estates in Kilkenny..

Here's my pals @europeantour.com with the story....

Lucas Herbert produced a brilliant battling round of 68 to win his second European Tour title in wire to wire fashion at the 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open...

The Australian entered the final day at Mount Juliet Estate with a one shot advantage and while he extended that to three in the early stages of his round, he would not have it all his own way.

After losing control off the tee, he had to utilise all his scrambling skills and mental strength to reach the turn in 35 and at that point, he had been caught at the top of the leaderboard.

But the 25-year-old produced a wonderfully composed performance down the stretch, coming home in 33 to finish at 19 under, three shots ahead of Swede Rikard Karlberg and four ahead of American Johannes Veerman.

The victory also gives Herbert a place in the field at The 2021 Open Championship alongside Karlberg, who birdied three of his last four holes in a 67, and Veerman who carded a 71.

He came from six back to win his maiden European Tour title at the 2020 Omega Dubai Desert Classic but had no such trouble in County Kilkenny, becoming the second wire to wire winner on the 2021 Race to Dubai after Bernd Wiesbgerger at the Made in Himmerland presented by FREJA, holding the solo lead after every round.

Herbert had fallen out of the top 200 on the Official World Golf Ranking when he won in Dubai but he will now hit a new career high, sitting just outside the top 50, and he revealed that when he was playing this event in 2019, he was not sure if Tour life as a professional golfer was for him.

"I just really wasn't enjoying my life on the road and I think at the end of that week I was pretty much questioning whether this was the career that I wanted to do," he said. "I'd never played full time on Tour with a full Tour card and been away from home so much as well. I think that was the first case of reality and I don't know that I really enjoyed it that much at the time. There was a lot of soul searching going on.

"The people around me that were the closest, that were looking after me the most, I wasn't treating them the way I probably should have. It was just a big soul search after the following week, The Scottish Open and flew home. I had to do a lot of thinking and that Irish Open was probably the low point. For it to come full circle now and be holding this trophy, it's really special."

He added: "Looking at the names on that trophy, it's pretty special, to add my name to that list is something that nobody can take away from me now and it's very, very satisfying to do it.

"I won in Dubai last year and how much that benefitted me winning the event rather than a top five or a top three. A win is so much more than a second place so I was mentally trying to keep that at the forefront of my mind today - a win is a lot bigger than just a good finish and I was proud to finish the way I did.

Sloan T2, leads Canadians early in round 2 at Rocket Mortgage Classic . full leaderboard

 PGA Tour: Rocket Mortgage Classic Friday leaderboard here

With rain moving through the Detroit area this Rocket Mortgage Classic stalled with weather delays on Thursday leading to an early re-start this morning.

The course is soft and the winds light so scoring is low. There are 6 Canadians and as play is underway in round 2 Roger Sloan  who opened with a -7 65 is currently T2 -8.

Michael Gligic in need of a good week, opened with -5 67.

Adam Hadwin E72, Mac Hughes -1 71, Nick Taylor E 72, David Hearn +1 73.

The leader at -9 63 is rookie Davis Thompson.

Breaking news: Mac Hughes has been added to the field for the Open Championship as a highest ranked non eligible player, July 15th at Royal St George's.

Bryan Angus

McIlroy improves on opening 72 in round 2 at the Irish Open.. full leaderboard

 European Tour: Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Leaderboard 

With all Irish eyes upon him Rory McIlroy improved on his opening E72, with a -5 67 to stay in contention with the weekend ahead at the Mount Juliet Estate course in Co Kilkenny, Ireland.

With round 2 underway the clubhouse leader is England's Dale Whitnell 67 67 -10.

Canada's Aaron Cockerill is having a good week so far 68 70 -6.

There are 14 players by my count from Ireland/ Northern Ireland in the field this week.

Bryan Angus