David Hearn and Graham DeLaet will lead a contingent of 12 golfers who will try to break the host country’s 61-year Canadian Open title drought.
PGA Tour regulars Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor and Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member Mike Weir will also tee off at the 2016 Canadian Open, which runs July 18-24 at Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville.
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The Canadians will join a field that includes defending champion and world No. 1 Jason Day, U.S. Open champion and world No. 2 Dustin Johnson, World No. 15 Matt Kuchar, two-time champion Jim Furyk and World Golf Hall of Fame member Ernie Els.
Hearn, from Brantford, Ont., is currently the top-ranked Canadian on the PGA Tour at No. 127. His 2016 season includes six top-20 finishes. He held the 54-hole lead before finishing third in the 2015 Canadian Open.
DeLaet, from Weyburn, Sask., recently returned to action after taking time off to work on his short game. Canada’s second-ranked golfer at No. 146 in the world, DeLaet is expected to team up with Hearn on Canada’s golf team at the Rio Olympics.
Hadwin and Taylor, both from Abbotsford, Ont., will be competing at the Canadian Open for the seventh time.
Weir, the 2003 Masters champion from Bright’s Grove, Ont., will compete at Canada’s PGA championship for the 25th time.
Web.com Tour player Brad Fritsch of Manotick, Ont., will make his ninth appearance at the event, while tournament exemptions have been given to Team Canada National Amateur Squad members Hugo Bernard of Mont St-Hilaire, Que., Jared du Toit of Calgary and Blair Hamilton of Burlington, Ont.
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Garrett Rank of Elmira, Ont., Dave Levesque of Montreal and Branson Ferrier of Barrie, Ont., round out the Canadian contingent.
The last Canadian to win the event was Pat Fletcher in 1954.
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