The Famous and Handsome Canadian Ryan’s Club
RBC Canadian open logo
Last week’s pick: Lee Westwood at The Open Championship Final Standing: T63 Summary: A tough Sunday for Lee. Was Even for the tournament heading into the final round but at least he made the cut. Two in a row for #neilerknows! We’ve hit this point in the season where my standards have adjusted slightly...Let me preface this topic beforehand by saying I enjoy being Canadian. I am actually a part of a very exclusive club of handsome, Canadian Ryan’s. Gosling (Or the Goz as I like to call him) and Mr. Pool, Ryan Reynolds, we get together once a month and talk about things that Ryan’s talk about. And one thing that we discuss is how frustrating it is that Canadian sports is marketed with silly Canadian stereotypes. I am not proud of living in a winter that forces me off the golf course for 7 months of the year. I am not proud of beavers or moose (anyone ever think why the plural of moose isn’t meese?) or poutine or maple syrup. And I am certainly not proud of this stigma that Canada is only a hockey nation. I blame all you guys with Hockey Canada tattoos on your calves. All these things are a part of Canada. And they’re all great. But why do we have to tie in all these gimmicks into professional sports? "We The North", Canadian flags on our jerseys and logos just to remind people that ya, we're here too? So when I see that the RBC Canadian Open has players trying to shoot a puck over water on a hole they call “The Rink” I just shake my head. To quote Shooter McGavin: “Damn you people. This is golf! ”But why? Like actually, why?! Why do we need to tie hockey into golf?! Even our Mackenzie Tour Event in Edmonton is named the Oil Country Championship. Is this the only way we can sell this sport in country is through hockey? A Canadian team hasn’t lifted Lord Stanley in 25 years! *insert Olympic gold medal rebuttal here* Our National Open should celebrate the history (and unfortunate end) of the remarkable Glen Abbey, a field of very nice players (thank you to team RBC), and definitely embrace our Canadian roots but by doing so that reflects the city the tournament is played in or the state of golf in country. Am I out to lunch on this one? Alright rant over. Time for a pick. It’s going to be Keagan Bradley that wins the RBC Canadian Open. He’s been through a bit of resurgence in the past couple years after falling out of grace when the anchoring ban was put into effect. A handful of top 10 finishes this year, 52 in the Fed Ex Cup rankings, and the fact that this tournament is usually won by complete randoms has me confident in a breakthrough victory for the former PGA Championship winner. And rumour has it he loves poutine. Reynolds went with Bubba and The Goz went with Kuch for the record. They like to play it a little safer with their picks than I do. Are you a proud Canadian? If you are a CFL fan then I would say you are (that’s the true test). So who’s your pick for the RBC Canadian Open this week? Are you going to watch the golf from your igloo as you pour maple syrup on your poutine and drink a Molson’s? Interact with us on Twitter at @Golf Life AB and @10Neiler and let us know!