Ball in motion accidentally deflected
There will be no penalty, unless the ball in motion hits another ball at rest and both ball were lying on the putting green.
The ball will most often be played as it lies, except if the ball comes to rest on any person, animal or moving outside influence; or if the ball was played from the putting green and hits any one of those objects.
Click here to learn more about the Modernized Rules of golf.
Quick look at the host of the 2019 RBC Canadian Open
Canadian golf journalist Adam Stanley takes us through a quick overview of Hamilton Golf & Country Club, site of the 2019 RBC Canadian Open from June 3-9.
Replacing damaged golf clubs
During a round, you are limited to no more than 14 clubs and generally must not replace damaged or lost clubs.
Click here to learn more about the Modernized Rules of golf.
World No. 4 Rory McIlroy ready to take on RBC Canadian Open
ANCASTER, Ont. – Rory McIlroy has only been to Canada once, but he’s looking forward to possibly writing his name in the history books when he plays in the RBC Canadian Open this summer.
McIlroy’s one visit to Canada was a brief stop that featured a round at The National Golf Club in Woodbridge, Ont., with friend and former One Direction member Niall Horan in 2015.
“All of these national opens that you can play in are important,” said McIlroy on Monday, calling in to a media conference at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. “I think the older a tournament is the more prestigious it is.
“To hear that the Canadian Open is 115 years old, one of the oldest events not just on tour but in the world, that makes it pretty prestigious.”
The fourth-ranked golfer in the world also got his eye on adding another trophy to his case.
“I’ve won a couple of national opens that I’m pretty proud of,” said the Northern Irishmen. “The Irish Open, the Australian Open, the U.S., it would be nice to add the Canadian to that list also.”
Although he’ll be focused on winning the only PGA Tour event in Canada, McIlroy does hope to take in some of the local sights.
“I hear the Canadian side of Niagara Falls is better than the U.S. side, so I might have to take a trip over there,” said McIlroy, to laughter. “Apart from that, it’ll be a work week. It’ll be a work I’m practising and playing hard and trying to win the tournament.”
World No. 4 @McIlroyRory dialed into Media Day to share his thoughts on the #RBCCO and playing Hamilton Golf & Country Club ⛳️? pic.twitter.com/B2haN52b48
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) May 7, 2019
It won’t be an easy tournament to win, with arguably the deepest field in the tournament’s storied history.
World No. 3 Brooks Koepka and two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson were officially added to the RBC Canadian Open’s lineup on Monday, joining McIlroy and world No. 1 Dustin Johnson.
“Winning a national open, one that is part of my family now, would be a big deal,” said Watson, whose wife Angie is from outside of Toronto. “We’ve got two flags up at our house, so it’s a big deal. It would be a great honour.”
PGA Tour players Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson, Ryan Palmer, Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker have also confirmed they’ll be playing at Hamilton Golf and Country June 3-9.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., who won the Valero Texas Open on April 7, are two Canadians who are officially in the field.
Golf Canada, RBC and the PGA Tour have made a concerted effort in the past 18 months to raise the prestige of the Canadian Open by increasing the purse and changing the date of the tournament to the first week of June.
Historically, the Canadian Open was held in September, but starting in 2007 it was played in late July, the prime golf season. Unfortunately, it was also the week after the British Open, causing many of the PGA Tour’s top players to miss the tournament as they recovered from the challenging major.
This year’s event is in early June, the week before the U.S. Open, essentially turning it into a tune-up event for some of the biggest names in golf.
McIlroy acknowledged on Monday that the date change is partly what drew him to the Canadian Open.
“June was looking like it was going to be sort of quiet for me, so I wanted to play a bit,” said McIlroy. “One of my goals this year was to play more and to be more competitive and that’s really what it’s down to.
“Part of the reason I wanted to play was that I wanted to play my way into the U.S. Open the following week.”
Pushing the pace of play
The Rules encourage prompt pace of play by all players as it has a huge impact on your group and everyone on the course.
Click here to learn more.
Homa comes full circle and wins Wells Fargo Championship
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Max Homa traded in a shovel for a ladder to get places he always thought he could reach.
Two years ago in his second try on the PGA Tour, he made only two cuts the entire season and played only one round on a Sunday. Eight months ago, he was on the verge of going back to Q-school and an uncertain future until closing with four straight birdies to make the cut in a Web.com Tour event that gave him another shot at the big leagues.
It made Sunday all that much sweeter in the Wells Fargo Championship.
In a three-way tie for the lead, in the final group on the PGA Tour for the first time, with Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia right behind him, Homa outplayed them all with a 4-under 67 for a three-shot victory at Quail Hollow and his first PGA Tour title.
“I used to say when I hit rock bottom I found a shovel and kept digging. I went to some low, low places,” he said. “I’d use a shovel and dig deeper. I went to some low, low places. I realized in that year or two when I started to play bad that my attitude was going to have to get a lot better. … I’m very proud I finally found a ladder and started climbing, because it was getting dark down there.”
Suddenly, the immediate future is bright as can be.
He has a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, a tee time at the PGA Championship in two weeks at Bethpage Black and a spot in the Masters next year.
A former NCAA champion at Cal, Homa has “Relentless” in block letters tattooed on his right forearm. The 28-year-old Californian also has a signed photo from former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, who once told him to look at the picture and be reminded to believe in himself.
The trophy at his side, Homa’s press conference was interrupted for him to take a call from the 91-year-old Lasorda.
“I guess my whole world is different,” he said.
Golf felt so hard for Homa for so many years after he left Cal, and then he made it look so easy in a final round that made him so nervous he wanted to throw up, except when he had his hands on a golf club. He pulled away with two birdies to start the back nine for a four-shot lead. He didn’t make a bogey until it only affected the final margin. But it was a one-hour rain delay that tested Homa the most.
He was leading by three when he nearly went in the water on the 14th hole and chipped up to 6 feet when the horn sounded to stop play. With time he didn’t need on his hands, he called his fiancee and his coach and can’t remember what either of them said.
And then he returned and buried the putt.
“I knew in the back of my mind if I made that putt, I win this golf tournament,” he said.
Joel Dahmen, who pushed Homa as hard as any major champion, saved par with a tough chip over the creek for a 70 and finished three shots behind.
“I didn’t beat myself today, which was kind of the goal,” Dahmen said. “Max is playing awesome. He’s a good friend. I think we’re going to celebrate tonight.”
Homa effectively sealed it with a perfect play to the green on the par-5 15th for a two-putt birdie, and a 10-foot par putt on the 17th to keep a three-shot leading playing the tough closing hole at Quail Hollow. He made a 10-foot par there, too, and the celebration was on.
Homa finished at 15-under 269.
“Over the moon, man,” he said before going to sign his card. “It means a lot to do it under pressure, and job security is great. I haven’t had that.”
The victory was worth $1,422,000, about $454,000 more than he had made in his previous 67 starts.
Justin Rose (68) finished alone in third and moved ahead of Brooks Koepka to No. 2 in the world.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was the top Canadian. He shot a final-round 73 to finish 1-under. Fellow Abbotsford native Nick Taylor (72) was 2-over.
Rory McIlroy was primed to join Tom Weiskopf as the only three-time winners at Quail Hollow, starting the final round two shots behind. He never got anything going until it went the wrong way. He turned a 20-foot eagle attempt into a three-putt par on the par-5 seventh, failed to get up-and-down on the reachable eighth for a birdie, and then went bogey-double bogey around the turn to take himself out of the mix.
No one else was much of a threat either, just two guys who had never come remotely close to winning on the PGA Tour.
Former PGA champion Jason Dufner, part of the three-way tie for the lead to start the final round, made consecutive bogeys early and had no bearing on the final round. A double bogey on the 18th gave him a 73 and dropped him into a tie for fourth.
Rose pulled within two shots with a birdie on the par-5 10th, only to settle into a series of pars. By the time Sergio Garcia reached double digits under par, Homa was well on his way.
Homa and Dahmen were at 13 under until Dahmen blinked first. He found a fairway bunker on No. 9, couldn’t get to the green and made bogey and dropped another shot on the 11th. Homa, playing behind him in the final group, holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 10th for a two-shot lead, made birdie from the left rough on the 11th with a 12-foot putt and escaped more trouble off the tee on the 12th with a two-putt from 80 feet.
He survived the rain delay, the nervy finish.
Homa has endured a lot more than that over the last few years.
McIlroy positioned for run at third Wells Fargo Championship; Hadwin T22
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rory McIlroy was in position to become the first three-time winner of the Wells Fargo Championship.
McIlroy celebrated his 30th birthday Saturday with a 3-under 68 to pull within two shots of leaders Max Homa, Jason Dufner and Joel Dahmen.
“I’m right there going into (Sunday), so I’m excited for that,” McIlroy said after a round that was delayed twice by weather. “I’m three shots closer to the lead than I was starting off the day, so that’s a good thing.”
Nobody finishes the Wells Fargo Championship better than McIlroy.
He’s been dominant on Sundays at Quail Hollow Club, which he calls one of his favourite courses. In his seven previous final rounds at the tournament he is a combined 19-under par, including a 62 in 2010 when he won the first of his two trophies.
His average final round score at the Wells Fargo is a 68.7, better than any other player. He’s trying to join Tom Weiskopf as the only three-time winners at Quail Hollow. Weiskopf won the old Kemper Open three times on this course before the tournament moved to Washington.
McIlroy has experience on his side entering Sunday, too.
He’s up against two players – Homa and Dahmen – who’ve never won on the PGA Tour, and Dufner, who is looking to break out of a lengthy slump and who appears to be just barely holding on after shooting 71 on Saturday. Pat Perez also was in contention, one shot ahead of McIlroy, but he’s coming off a torn calf muscle.
As he walked from hole to hole, McIlroy was repeatedly greeted by fans wishing him happy birthday.
“I felt the love,” he joked.
But there were no gifts for the star from Northern Ireland early in the round.
He opened with pars on his first six holes. It wasn’t until the par-5 seventh that McIlroy drained a short putt for his first birdie. He finished the round with four birdies and one bogey.
Ironically, the bogey came after his best shot of the day.
McIlroy nearly holed out from the middle of fairway 99 yards away on the par-4 12th when ball just missed rolling backward into the cup with some backspin. It appeared McIlroy was building some momentum, but the second horn sounded suspending play again as he was lining up his birdie putt and he had to go all the way back to the clubhouse again. When McIlroy returned to the course, he three-putted for bogey.
“That one sort of got me a little bit,” McIlroy said about the second delay. “But it’s the same for everyone, we just have to deal with it the best we can.”
But McIlroy pulled it together, making birdie on the short par-4 14th hole and the reachable par-5 15th hole to claw back to within two shots of the leaders, none of whom could separate themselves from the pack coming down the stretch at Quail Hollow’s difficult three closing holes called the Green Mile.
McIlroy said the key for him Sunday will be patience, something he learned after winning the Players Championship earlier this year. During that victory he started the final two rounds 2-over before battling to get on track.
“I told myself I’m right in the thick of the tournament but you have to stay patient and almost let it come to you rather than try to chase it,” McIlroy said about The Players Championship. “That was on thatgolf course. I think it’s similar here. You have to pick your spots to be aggressive and make your birdies, the par 5s, the two short par 4s. If you can do that and pick those off and you don’t make many mistakes, you know, 68 or 67’s always going to do you pretty well around here.”
It’s no surprise that McIlroy is in contention.
He’s in midst of another outstanding season. He’s made the cut in all nine events he’s entered and not finished worse than a tie for 21st,at the Masters.
Nick Taylor 1 back of leader Rory McIlroy at Quail Hollow
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rory McIlroy looked every bit like a player who has won twice at the Wells Fargo Championship.
He just didn’t feel like one.
Twice when he was out of position off the tee, he managed to make birdies. He missed a 4-foot birdie putt after his most amazing recovery of all. And late in his round Thursday, he ran off three straight birdies for a share of the lead with Joel Dahmen at 5-under 66, his lowest start in 10 appearances at Quail Hollow.
Walking to the scoring area, he smiled and said, “Managed my game.”
His translation of that?
“Get the most out of your round, turn 70s in 66, like I did today,” he said. “I felt like I hit it like I should have shot 1- or 2-under par. I didn’t feel like it was a round that I deserved to shoot 5 under, but I got the most out of it, which is nice if I’m able to continue to do that sort of stuff.”
He wasn’t complaining. In his first start since tying for 21st at the Masters – his only finish out of the top 10 this year – McIlroy got out of trouble and made enough key putts to keep moving in the right direction. His only bogey came after a drive that bounced into a creek, and there’s no recovering when a ball is in 4 feet of water.
Dahmen, a cancer survivor who tries not to take himself too seriously, played a more steady game. Playing three groups behind the large crowd following McIlroy, he kept bogeys off his card and holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th for his 66.
They were a shot ahead of a group that included Patrick Reed, who is having the opposite year of McIlroy. The former Masters champion has yet to finish in the top 10, and he hopes a bogey-free round like Thursday morning will be a signal that his work on his swing is done and it’s time to start hitting shots.
Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., was the low Canadian, in a tie for third with Reed, Adam Schenk, Dylan Frittelli and Martin Laird.
Defending champion Jason Day led a large pack at 68.
Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., was tied for 47th at even-par 71. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., were tied for 83rd at 2 over, David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., were tied for 103rd at 3 over. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., was 4 over to tie for 116th.
Dahmen tied for 12th at The Players Championship and earned just over $250,000, which made him feel like “the richest man alive.” He decided to grow in a moustache, which he kept for good luck until hitting a ball in the water last week at the team event in New Orleans. So he shaved.
But he’s still playing well enough to think this might be the week he at least gives himself a chance.
“I want to be in the hunt with nine to play. That’s the goal,” he said. “I haven’t really been there yet. I’m good enough to. I should be there. I should have chances by now. I just kind of need to get out of my own way and let it go.”
McIlroy was in the trees on the second hole when he punched out low and let the ball run across the sun-baked, fast fairway and onto the green about 20 feet, setting up a long birdie putt. He got out of minor tree trouble on the par-5 10th to set up a birdie. He was out of position left of the 11th fairway and hit that to 2 feet.
His best shot was from a suspect lie in the right rough, blocked by a tree, facing an elevated green with a back pin. The idea was to dump it in a front bunker and try to get up-and-down for par.
“That’s where I assumed it was going to go, but it came out perfectly, had a little more cut on it than I thought it was going to out of the rough, took a nice couple of hopes and got up there very close,” he said.
Not close enough, for he badly pushed the birdie putt.
“Probably didn’t deserve to make the putt after the tee shot,” he said.
And then in a three-hole stretch, he moved to the top of the leaderboard. It started with a long bunker shot to 6 feet for birdie on the short par-4 14th. His 3-wood on the par-5 15th went over the green and he chipped weakly to 12 feet and made the putt. And then he smashed a driver that bounced off the ridge next to a bunker and down the fairway, leaving a chip 9-iron to 8 feet for a third straight birdie.
Good golf usually goes his way at Quail Hollow.
This is where McIlroy won his first PGA Tour title in 2010, closing with a 62. He lost in a playoff to Rickie Fowler and D.A. Points two years later, and won in 2015.
“I’ve got some great memories here,” he said. “Every time I step onto this golf course, I feel like I have a chance to shoot a good score. I didn’t play my best today. I managed my game well, scrambled well. But it added up to a good number at the end of the day.”
Clear mind has Canada’s Michael Gligic sixth on points list on Web.com Tour
It’s not that Michael Gligic doesn’t care about his results anymore. He’s just learned to keep golf in its proper perspective, helping him relax on the course.
That laid-back approach has helped the Canadian stay near the top of the Web.com Tour’s rankings and close in on his first PGA Tour card. Entering play at this week’s Nashville Golf Open, Gligic is sixth in the regular-season points list, largely thanks to winning the Panama Championship.
“I used to get a little too caught up in what other people were doing, what they were shooting, what I need to shoot at the start of the week to win, or what’s the cut going to be,” said Gligic. “Now I don’t really look at the board. I just go out and play and add them up at the end and see how we did.”
Gligic’s win in Panama on Feb. 10 was a prime example of this new mindset.
He entered the final round tied for seventh, three shots back of third-round leader Ben Taylor. Gligic fired a 5-under 65, including a four-foot putt on the 18th hole, to win.
“I didn’t really have nerves because I didn’t know it was to win, I had no idea where I stood,” said Gligic. “If you watch the video of me making the three- or -four-footer, as soon as it goes in I said to my caddy ‘how did we do?’ because I had no idea.
“That’s where I want to stay. In my own little world and I’ll just go play golf and see where I how I do at the end of the week.”
Gligic is partly inspired by PGA Tour veterans Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, who have been open about the benefits of leaving their golf game on the course and being a “human being” in their down time.
“My wife Natasha’s coming down this week and regardless of what happens on Thursday we’re going to go for a nice dinner in one of the coolest cities in the United States being in Nashville,” said Gligic after taking in a practice round at the Nashville Golf & Athletic Club on Tuesday. “Have a beer somewhere, it’ll all be good.”
The top 25 players on the second-tier Web.com Tour’s points list at the end of the season earn PGA Tour cards. Given his strong start to the season, Gligic is already closing in on being mathematically guaranteed a promotion for next season.
Many Canadians on the Web.com Tour skip the RBC RBC Canadian Open in favour of playing on their regular circuit to keep earning points toward a PGA Tour card. Gligic is hoping to be in a strong enough position that he can opt into Canada’s only PGA Tour event.
The RBC Canadian Open is being held at Hamilton Golf and Country Club from June 6-9, right by Gligic’s hometown of Burlington, Ont.
“I’ve put a lot of thought into it and talked to my team and gotten a few opinions and I think we’re going to do it,” Gligic said. “I haven’t gotten a call for an exemption, I haven’t gotten anything official yet, but we’re hoping for it and if I do get the call, I’m planning on being there.
“I’m just hoping I can put a few good weeks together and lock up a PGA Tour card before the RBC Canadian Open.”
Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch, Calgary’s Ryan Yip and Toronto’s Albin Choi are the other Canadians in the field at the Nashville Golf Open.
Golf in Schools tallies 66 adoptions during Adopt a School Week
Golf Canada is proud to celebrate the 66 adoptions that occurred during Adopt a School Week thanks to the efforts of golf enthusiasts and industry partners across the country.
In total, the figure translates to an additional 7,920 students being introduced to the sport through the Future Links, driven by Acura Golf in Schools program. The coast-to-coast campaign was elevated by support from Canadian industry partners—the Provincial Associations, PGA of Canada, the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA), Canadian Society of Club Managers and Canadian Golf Superintendents Association.
A matching program for the first 30 adoptions was made possible by the Canadian Seniors Golf Association, who continue to be a leader in supporting Adopt a School Week. In the campaign’s four years of running, the CSGA has helped to adopt over 100 schools in Canadian communities from coast-to-coast.
Since the program’s inception in 2009, adoptions have accounted for close to 50% of over 3,800 registered schools delivering the curriculum. For Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s chief sport officer, that number presents a great opportunity to build community relationships.
“The vision is to help establish a connection between golf facilities and schools in respective communities across Canada through the Golf in Schools program,” said Thompson. “Nurturing these relationships will enhance the delivery of the program and build a connection that will last for many years to come.”