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07/21/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cast in the shadow of the Open Championship which finished this past weekend at St. Andrews, the 2010 installment of the RBC Canadian Open is all set to tee off at the historic St. George's Golf and Country Club in Toronto, ON from July 22 - 25, 2010.
The renowned Stanley Thompson-designed course, which first opened in 1929, has been the host of the Canadian Open on four occasions, but none since 1968. St. George's has also been the host of the LPGA Classic on five occasions and most recently the du Maurier Champions, also known as the Canadian Senior Open.
Well regarded as a course that demands accurate ball striking, spectators will be treated to an exciting finish across the club's signature final four holes. The 2010 PGA season has been an unpredictable journey to say the least, deemed by many as the start of the Tiger Woods post-scandal era. With Tiger yet to play up to the standard he's repeatedly set for himself since first joining the PGA back in 1996, more and more tour pros are getting a taste of being the last man standing come Sunday. In 2010, there have been 10 first-time winners on the PGA Tour, most notably Graeme McDowell at the U.S. Open, and last weekend Louis Oosthuizen at the Open Championship.
This growing shift in power from one player to the rest of the field offers inspiring hope to the Canadian contingent vying for Canada's top golfing trophy and a tournament purse worth $5.1 million USD. With only four players out of the top 20 in the World Golf Rankings playing this week, the trophy is very much up for grabs which bodes well for the deep Canadian team.
Led by the recently inducted Canadian Golf Hall of Famer Mike Weir, Canada's hopes rest with a mix of young guns and proven veterans who make up fourteen of the 156 total competitors in this year's Championship.
TEAM CANADA
2003 Masters Champion Mike Weir has had a rough year so far posting only one top-10 finish this year, coming at the Bob Hope Classic. Considered a long shot to win, Weir has struggled this year due to his poor ball-striking, ranking 189th of 190 players on tour. Since losing in a playoff to Vijay Singh at the 2004 Bell Canadian Open, Weir has yet to contend on a Sunday for his nation's most coveted golfing prize. Meanwhile, if there is one player in the field not to discount before teeing it up on Thursday, it's Weir. As he has done so many times in the past, Weir will be carrying the weight of a nation as the most popular and successful Canadian golfer of his generation.
Canada's second most well-known golfer, 2009 Players Champion Stephen Ames, has experienced an up and down season thus far recording only one top-10 and six top-25 finishes. Ames, an outspoken fan of St. George's, likes the chances of a Canadian contending come Sunday based on Canadian players' familiarity of the tight layout. It may be Ames who likes his own chances best on a course that rewards players who can hit a high percentage of greens in regulation and follow with a birdie putt. These are coincidentally his two best statistical categories on tour this year.
The future of Canadian golf has emerged during the 2010 season and his name is Graham DaLaet. The 28-year-old PGA Tour rookie is coming off the round of his career last Saturday at the Reno-Tahoe Open after carding a bogey-free 62 that tied the course record. DaLaet has enjoyed a consistent season boasting nine made cuts and a third place finish at the Shell Houston Open making him the logical pick for the low Canuck this week at St. George's.
Joining DaLaet in competition are six other Canadian golfers under the age of 30.
"They are among the best young golfers in the world and we are certain to see exciting play from them as they compete with the PGA TOUR's biggest and best names at St. George's in July," said Scott Simmons, Golf Canada's Executive Director and CEO, in a recent press release.
The standout of this promising group is Canada's best amateur golfer - Nick Taylor. The 2007 Canadian Amateur Champion and recent recipient of the 2010 Ben Hogan award as the nation's top collegiate golfer, is expected by many to capture multiple Canadian championships before his career is out. The University of Washington senior will be turning pro after the U.S. Amateur in August, and will offer us a glimpse of what to expect for many years to come.
Other notable Canadians competing in the 2010 RBC Canadian Open: Ted Brown, Ben Boudreau, Dave Bunker, Cam Burke, Matt Hill, Barrett Jarosch, Eugene Wong, Stephen Ames, Graham DeLaet, David Hearn, Jon Mills, Nick Taylor and Mike Weir
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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