RBC Canadian Open: Monday

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Jul. 27, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM staff

ROUND UPDATE (10:10 a.m. ET): The final round has been under way in Canada for about an hour, while the leaders are still finishing up Round 3. The last tee time for the final round is 11 a.m.

MORNING UPDATE (8:30 a.m. ET): Play resumed without a hitch Monday at 7:30 a.m. in Oakville, Ontario, and the full field is on the course completing Round 3. The final round is scheduled to begin at 9:10 a.m. in groups of three going off two tees. To see the pairings, click here. According to TOUR Weather Daily, more rain is possible this morning in the Toronto area, and storms are likely to come through in the afternoon.

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The RBC Canadian Open will resume early Monday morning, and the plan is to complete the remaining holes of the third round and then play the final round throughout the day. Here's how it sets up:

Groups We're Watching

Tee time	Players
7:30 a.m. Rd 3, TBA Rd 4		Jason Dufner, Jerry Kelly, Scott Verplank The top three have been paired together for the third round, and it should be a very exciting group. All three are Americans and look to keep the title in the U.S. yet again.
7:30 a.m. Rd 3, TBA Rd 4		Kevin Na, Retief Goosen, Tim Herron Only two players in the top 10 of the leaderboard have shot a round of 70 or higher. Na is one of those two. Thank goodness for that 63 in Round 1.
7:30 a.m. Rd 3, TBA Rd 4		Pat Perez, Bob Estes, Camilo Villegas While all three of these players sit at 10 under, Villegas needs to rebound from his second-round 71 with a solid morning round on Sunday.

EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR on-site correspondent Larry Rinker previews Sunday's round:

Monday's forecast

Scattered Showers
Temp: 79 high/64 low
Showers and scattered thunderstorms. Winds from the southwest at 10 to 20 mph.

Rain has pushed the finish of the 100th RBC Canadian Open to Monday. This is the first time this has happened here since 1988. In 1988, the playing conditions were quite different on Monday morning compared to Sunday afternoon. The temperature went down 20 degrees on Monday, and the wind was blowing and gusting to over 25 mph. I was in second place at 12 under on the 13th tee when play was suspended that Sunday. Unfortunately for me, I triple-bogeyed the 14th on Monday morning, hit my second shot in the water on the 18th, and ended up tied for seventh four shots behind the winner Ken Green.

That year, I had one of my best runs ever on the PGA TOUR. After an opening-round 77, I shot back-to-back 65s and was 4 under through eight holes on Sunday. That's 19 under for 44 holes. Momentum will be key on Monday's finish this year as well. The final group of Jason Dufner, Scott Verplank, and Jerry Kelly have completed only six holes in their third round, which leaves 30 holes to complete if they end up getting in all 72 holes. If the tournament ends up being a sprint to a 54-hole finish, the leaders will have a huge advantage along with several players in the final five groups, which include Anthony Kim, Retief Goosen and Camilo Villegas.

With the wet conditions, the players have been playing lift, clean, and place in their own fairway all week. That should make for excellent scoring conditions if there's no wind. It's going to come down to who can get hot with the putter and make a bunch of birdies or perhaps an eagle. With three par 5s in the final six holes, we should have a real shootout coming down the stretch, with the advantage going to the longer hitters who can reach all the par 5s. Mike Weir shot 8 under on the back nine in the Monday Pro-Am that he hosted. All of Canada will be hoping he can repeat that performance on Championship Monday.

Stat of the day

If someone from the current top 10 ends up winning the RBC Canadian Open tomorrow, there is a 70 percent chance that it will be a first-time winner. Seven of those players are winless on TOUR, and not a single player in that top 10 is Canadian.

The Film Room

	Carman addresses media about suspension of play PGA TOUR Tournament Director Steve Carman talked to reporters following the decision to suspend play of the third round of the 2009 RBC Canadian Open. Watch it
	Kelly on the "up side" of golf rain delays Jerry Kelly addressed the media after play was suspended, talking about the "up side" of a rain delay. Watch it
	Weir outlines second-round ruling on his scorecard Mike Weir talked to reporters about a ruling which affected his second round score. Royal Canadian Golf Association Chairman Dean Ryan also helped to explain. Watch it