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Decent consolation prize.  The picture says it all!  

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I opened my eyes at 8am to the sound of rain pouring down on the roof on my house so I set the alarm for 9:30 and got some much needed sleep.  I eventually made my way to Hamilton Golf and Country Club and entered the gates at 11am.  There had been an hour rain delay so I hadn’t missed much.I walked into the gates and was bombarded by sponsors pushing everything from Authentic Canadian Open Flags to a golf comic book.  Once I push my way through the crowds and stock up on hundreds of free gum samples, I make my way to the VIP tent for some free VIP beer.  Turns out the VIP beer costs $5.25 but it is served by a great looking waitress so that takes some of the sting off the wallet.  As I drink my beer I check out the pairings for the day.  Due to the rain, the golfers are now playing in 3s.  The other great thing about the rain is that the place is relatively empty (and remains that way all day) so I can basically get as close to any green or tee box I choose. 

I start by watching the players at the driving range.  Vijay, Furyk, Camilo Villegas and Rory Sabatini are all hitting balls while a small crowd watches.  A lot has been said about Furyk’s swing but it is something to behold in person.  But no matter what people say, you can’t argue with results.  I also couldn’t believe what great shape Villegas is in.  He isn’t a big man but he is built and hits the ball a long way.  Other big observations were how they warmed up.  Vijay swung a weighted club for about 10 minutes then would swing it again in between practicing his irons.  I also watched as both Vijay and Villegas spent a long time working within their self-made training stations.  Jon has me using these all the time which made it so weird to see these pros doing the exact same thing.  They had their clubs on the ground helping with alignment and take-away, the exact same thing I do at the range.  I guess you always need to return to basic fundamentals.
I won’t bore you with the hole by hole details but I basically ran around watching as many different groups as I could.  I spent time at tee-boxes, in fairways watching approach shots and around the greens watching short-game.   A couple of things really jumped out at me – While they all drive a long ball, I can’t believe how great they are with mid to long irons!  It blew me away watching the control they had.  I was also impressed with their chipping and pitching.  Regardless of lie or slope of the green, these guys are always within gimmie range.  What did shock me was how few putt they make.  The guys I was watching weren’t sinking very many 10-15 foot putts at all.I also loved watching how precise each player is with their shot selection and how involved some caddies are with their players.  Many players spend a long time talking with caddies before each shot.  Speaking of shot selection, I was standing beside Vijay on a Par 3.  The hole was slightly elevated and it had just finished raining.  After spending 2-3 minutes reviewing his yardage book, Vijay got ready to hit.  Just as he was over his ball, a slight gust of wind kicked up.  Vijay backed off, watched the wind the consulted his book once again.  He then switched clubs, tee’d the ball slightly higher and proceeded to stick it pin high leaving him a 10 ft look at birdie.  That was simply amazing.
What did I learn from the Open?  Practice makes perfect.  I also learnt the need for a consistent and deliberate pre-shot routine.  Just as Jon talks about all the time…there is the Think Box and the Play Box.  All the pros do this and you can’t argue with their results!Moment of the Tournament
I spent some time following Bubba Watson.  He is THE big hitter and is gaining ‘Daly-like’ status for his drives.  He was the side-show and had a decent size group (relative to the crowds that day) following him.  I couldn’t believe how far this guy hits the ball.  On the elevated Par 5 17th, I decided I would stand down the fairway to see him hit.  They were pretty far away and elevated so I couldn’t see who was hitting.  I saw one ball land then 2 minutes later another landed 15 yards past the first so I assumed this was Bubba.  2 minutes later I heard a thud about 40 yards down the fairway and a ball was sitting right in the middle!!  I walked over to it and an official PGA guy was there recording the yardages.  Since it was wet, the fairways had ZERO roll.  The PGA guy looked at me and said 345 with no roll!  Granted it was an elevated tee but regardless…it was amazing.  As Watson approached his ball someone yelled “Nice 3-wood Bubba”.  Watson looked at me and said; “I don’t need a 3-wood.  It is driver, 2-iron”…then he laughed.  Watson then took out an iron from about 220 and stuck it to 3 feet.  He tapped in the easy Eagle.  On the next hole he took out a 2 iron and whacked in right OB and ended up giving back those 2 strokes with a double bogey!