As it is one of the oldest and most storied tournaments in the books, I was waiting for a Canadian writer to vent about the lack of excitement and star power at this year's Canadian Open. Bruce Dowbiggin of the Calgary Herald does just that...
Here's what it's come to for the Canadian Open . . . er, the RBC Canadian Open. The broadcast of the national championship is farmed out to American networks, the field is denuded of elite players by the British Open and everyone at the RCGA prays that a ranked player will win so they have one big name to sell for the next year. Oh yeah -- it rains like crazy, too...
A 26-year-old sharpshooter named Chez Reavie -- sounding more like a Montreal restaurant than a national golf champ -- posted his first PGA Tour win by hanging a three-shot win on the field. It was great golf from the Arizona State product, but with Billy Mayfair, Steve Marino, Glen Day, Kevin Na, Briny Baird and Nicholas Thompson as the main chase group, it lacked for some drama.
The ratings prove it, as Thomas Bonk of the LA Times reports:
The third-round of the Canadian Open on CBS had an 0.9 overnight rating in metered markets, down 18% from a 1.1 in 2007. The fourth-round overnight ratings on CBS were a 1.4, down 18% from a 1.7 in 2007 when Jim Furyk won.
