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By Dave Shedloski
PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent

Davis Love III is the man to beat at this week's Canadian Open.

Davis Love III had a hand in the Canadian Open course. (WireImage)

Although the former PGA champion isn't in this week's field, Love is sure to be a significant figure in the tournament's narrative, having overseen the renovation of the North Course at Angus Glen, which hosts the Canadian national championship for the second time in six years.

Designed by Doug Carrick and Jay Morrish, Angus Glen was a charitable layout in the 2002 Canadian Open that John Rollins captured in a playoff over Justin Leonard and Neal Lancaster after the trio shot a 16-under 272 aggregate score. Such a numerical performance might be possible at the Markham, Ontario, layout, but it won't come as easily. Angus Glen's North-South composite layout is slightly longer than the '01 South Course test at just over 7,400 yards, while par has been reduced to 71 after the par-5 fifth hole converted to a long par 4.

But length is not what Love was assigned to alter, though he did shift the championship tees on seven holes. More importantly, however, he changed the course's complexion; fairways have been tightened on nine holes, and landing areas and fairway bunkers were pushed and pulled for better visual presentation and to increase shot values.

Furthermore, the two finishing holes come from the older South Course for a better challenge to players and a better setting near the clubhouse for spectators.

Love has called the tinkering, which he began in 2005, as "reshaping" the layout rather than remaking it, even though the place was only five years old when he started the process.

"What I saw when I rode around the golf course the first time was that the fairways didn't have a whole lot of definition, you didn't clearly see where you wanted to hit the ball off the tee other than a big field," Love said in a recent interview. "Once you played the golf course, you got the angles down. I think we've defined the fairways, repositioned things, mostly re-aligning holes so they make more sense off the tee."

Complicating the test at the $5 million tournament that is the second oldest stop on the TOUR is four inches of rough comprised of Kentucky bluegrass (always tough) and tall fescue rough. Large greens averaging around 8,000 square feet should favor the firm range.

Worth knowing:

A healthy contingent of Canadian players is included in the 156-man field, including Presidents Cup hopefuls Mike Weir and Stephen Ames and PGA TOUR rookie Jim Rutledge. There are 19 Canadians in the field, the most since 20 entered in 1998. The last Canadian winner is the 1954 champion Pat Fletcher.

Justin Leonard, who missed the cut at the British Open, was the only player in 2002 to fire four rounds in the 60s at Angus Glen, carding 69-68-66-69. That made him the 28th player in Canadian Open history to post four sub-70 rounds in the same week.

Defending champion Jim Furyk led the tournament last year at Hamilton Golf & Country Club in both putting average and putts per round. On the large greens at Angus Glen, a similar performance is a formula for a successful title defense. Bob Estes, by the way, is No. 4 in putting average on the TOUR, the highest ranked player in this week's field.

2004 champion Vijay Singh saw a four-year streak of top-10 finishes end last year, a nice run that began in '02 at Angus Glen, but far short of the tournament record of eight set by Charles Murray nearly a century ago.

Expect a tight finish to the third oldest national open (behind the U.S. Open and British Open). The Canadian Open has not been decided by more than three strokes since 1977 when Lee Trevino (280) defeated Peter Oosterhuis (284) by four strokes, and, of course, playoffs were necessary four of the last 10 editions: 1998, 2002, '03 and '04.

Weir lost a heartbreaker when he fell to Singh in the '04 edition, but he's coming into the tournament having finished tied for eighth in his last two starts -- his first two top-10 finishes of '07. He tied for 22nd at the '02 Canadian Open at Angus Glen.

Pat Perez might be dangerous this week. He tied for 20th at the British Open and has top-4 finishes in two of his last six events. Perez set the competitive course record of 63 at Angus Glen in the final round of the '02 tournament in finishing joint 12th.

Another player to watch is Steve Flesch, who posted his first top-10 of the season at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. Flesch has struggled for much of the year to find a golf ball he is comfortable with. Other than Rollins and Leonard, who locked horns in the playoff five years ago, Flesch is the highest returning finisher from '02, placing in a tie for fourth.