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RBC Canadian Open

TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley - North Course

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    Brooks Koepka said Thursday he's been working hard on his putting.

    It's kept him from contending more since his return to the PGA Tour and he thinks he found a fix.

    “I’ve worked hard the last few months and it’s nice to see," Koepka said after an opening 64 at the RBC Canadian Open. "We just changed the ball position a little bit, moved it a little bit further back. Felt like, with the ball position being up a little bit it was creating a little bit of a push. Trying to get away from the technical side of it and just focus on that ball position and then my mind kind of clears from there. Just make a stroke, which has been different than the mechanical stuff we’ve been doing the last six months.”

    Koepka made seven birdies in his last 10 holes including three straight from 9-11 and then making four in the last five holes. He was fifth in strokes gained/putting in Round 1 at plus-3.491. He's tied for the lead with Sahith Theegala, Emiliano Grillo, Eric Cole, Sam Burns and Matthew Anderson.

    Christiaan Bezuidenhout is now one-for-1,880.

    That's how many par-3 holes the South African had played in his PGA Tour career before collecting his first hole-in-one. Bezuidenhout aced the par-3, 214-yard seventh hole Thursday during the first round of the RBC Canadian Open at TPC Toronto. It was his 16th hole of the day, which got him to three-under total. He shot 67 and was tied for 30th place.

    Sahith Theegala has some interesting taste in video games.

    Following a first-round 64 in Canada, Theegala mentioned he likes to play video games (and chess) in his downtime. A reporter followed up and asked what types of video games he's into. There was no mention of Madden, FIFA, 2K or Call of Duty, rather a poker game called "Balatro":

    That explains what he's doing on his iPad in all of his soon-to-be wife Juju's TikToks. While we've never heard of "Balatro," it's apparently a pretty big deal, selling over 5 million copies in its first year and being named Game of the Year at the Game Developers Choice Awards. If he goes on to win this week, you can expect a bunch of other tour pros to download this game on their iPads next. 

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    A shot from last year's Canadian Open is being immortalized with a plaque.

    Ben Hogan's 1-iron at Merion. Jack Nicklaus' 1-iron at Baltusrol. Ryan Fox's . . . 3-wood at TPC Toronto? That's right, the New Zealander's clutch shot on the fourth hole of a playoff with Sam Burns last year is getting its own hardware. Fox said "It's very cool" and called it "The best shot I've ever hit." He also said he can "dine out on" Jim Nantz describing it as "majestic" during last year's broadcast. Talk about an honor. 

    Look at the lines below. Which one is crooked?

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    You probably spotted it pretty quickly: It's the right line. It's slanted just one degree, whereas the left one is completely flat.

    Why am I showing you this? Well, because it explains one of the reasons why mallet putters have been such a hot trend in golf right now.

    Yes, the extra forgiveness is important, but off-center hits aren't usually the reason why golfers miss putts. It's misalignment.

    And because mallet heads are bigger, it means the alignment aid on the putter itself can be longer. So what?

    Well, simply put, crooked lines are harder to spot when the lines themselves are short. The longer the line, the easier it is to spot which one is pointing in the wrong direction—as you just proved.

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    Brooks Koepka’s swing relies on this downswing position.

    Notice how the shaft of the club tracks just above his right forearm. Then the clubhead passes out in front of his hands before impact. He calls this “keeping the clubhead outside his hands” on the downswing, and it’s essential to hitting a pull fade. When he struggles, the clubhead hangs back behind his hands for too long—that’s what many refer to as feeling “stuck.” That leads to a flippy, handsy release and a two-way miss. By keeping the clubhead outside his hands, Koepka can turn hard into impact with his upper body to control the face and produce his reliable fade.

    Count Jake Knapp among those who want to see this venue get another U.S. Open crack.

    If you were to ask, say, Billy Horschel, or any of the other competitors from the 2015 U.S. Open, they'd all probably say they never need to see Chambers Bay again. But for golf fans, enough time has passed that people are starting to remember that week fondly. It was quite cinematic, in retrospect, and it probably deserves a second chance. Jake Knapp, who had not even turned professional yet, did not play in that U.S. Open, but by the look of his "top 10 U.S. Open venue rankings," it's safe to say he'd like to see the USGA return to the Pacific Northwest: 

    You are not alone, sir. Unfortunately, the next open slot is in ... wait for it ... 2046. 

    How's this for an impressive birdie chip-in?

    Sahith Theegala, teeing it up at the Canadian Open on Thursday morning, delivered this beautiful birdie-saving chip-in after his approach on the 10th landed hole high and nearly spun back into the water hazard.

    Talk about flirting with disaster, but thankfully Theegala walked away not just unscathed, but one up on the golf gods. That never lasts long in this sport, so enjoy it while you can, Sahith.

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    Watch my right heel before I swing

    đź‘€

    Notice how I start with my right heel raised at setup? It's a drill I've been working on that's been working wonders.

    Like most golfers I have bad hip mobility, and it causes my hips to move towards the ball during my swing; to early extend.

    This starts to happen on my backswing, which is why starting with my heel raised has been so helpful. I start with it raised, then focus on stomping my right heel into the ground when I start my swing.

    This little countermovement propels my entire body back. It helps me load my trail leg better, and stops my hips moving towards the ball.

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    Every year, when the U.S. Open comes around, golf fanatics want to see if they’ll be able to play the major course down the road.

    Unfortunately, unless you know the right people, you won’t be teeing off at Shinnecock Hills anytime soon. The private club reportedly has initiation fees of around $250,000, with guest tee times filling up months in advance. Perhaps the best story regarding Shinnecock’s hush-hush nature was from our September 1977 issue, looking at the acclaimed course: “Have the members,” a Shinnecock man was asked once, “ever added up their money?” “No,” he answered. “I don’t think they would ever tell—not even each other.”

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