Okay, so the Monday at the Canadian Open is usually as quiet as a field mouse. In fact, Glen Abbey could typically be flooded with field mice on Monday and no one would notice. Not today -- thousands lined the fairways at Glen Abbey to see a number of celebrities, including Michael Jordan, Kevin Costner, and tour players like Anthony Kim, and Chez Reavie play in the first celebrity pro-am in support of the Mike Weir Foundation. Of course Weir was also there -- he who flew in on a charter with Stephen Ames Saturday after missing the cut at the British Open.

Points of note:

• Weir, who wasn’t the biggest name at the Canadian Open for the first time in recent memory, played Glen Abbey on Sunday in relative quiet, with hardly anyone around. Top Canadian amateur Matt Hill was one of the few golfers practicing at the Abbey, which was buzzing with last-minute preparations for the tournament. Weir seemed impressed by the quality of the greens, which had improved since last year.
• Speaking of Weir, his caddie, Brennan Little had the day off, but still came to the course. Little, a former Canadian Tour pro, tipped it up in the Weir.
• Andrew Parr of London, Ont. eagled the par-4 finishing hole at Heron Point Golf Club near Ancaster, Ont., to shoot 63 and qualify for the Canadian Open. Parr, who plays most of his golf on the Canadian Tour, also played at this year's US Open. Other qualifiers include Richard Lee of Chandler, Ariz., amateur Graham Baillargeon of Mississauga, Ont. and Lucas Lee of Torrance, Calif.
• Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples withdrew from the tournament while I walked with his group, which included Pengrowth CEO Jim Kinnear. Couples bent over on the 9th hole to take a ball out of the cup and his back went out. I spoke with him about it and he said he'd had treatment on it last weekend -- but once it goes, there is no coming back in the short term. He was on a plane back to California within an hour of withdrawing.
• Apparently John Daly was almost kept from getting into Canada -- or at least part of his entourage was. Daly’s girlfriend apparently had some issue that led immigration officials in Canada to go a little crazy. The plane, a charter from Scotland that brought more than 20 players to the Canadian Open, landed in Toronto around 10 p.m. Sunday night, but it was nearly 2 a.m. before all the players were clear through customs, tournament director Bill Paul confirmed. No word on what the issue with Daly’s latest squeeze was – just that she did get into the country.
• Other Canadians getting into the field include Vancouver’s Stuart Anderson. The top six money leaders on the Canadian Tour get into the field, but one – Delaet, who won in Winnipeg this past weekend, had already been given an exemption. Others getting into the field from the Canadian Tour include Mauricio Molina, Mike Grob, Andres Gonzales, Hugo Leon and Rafael Gomez who earned exemptions via their standing on the Canadian Tour’s Order of Merit. Both Stuart Anderson and Wes Heffernan were also granted exemptions.  Although invited, Byron Smith and Jim Rutledge decided to forego their exemptions to play the Nationwide Tour’s Cox Classic.
• Rocco Mediate withdrew over an apparent issue with a passport for a family member. Interestingly Mediate also withdrew from the British Open this past weekend – but since it came part way through the event, I doubt it had anything to do with immigration.

Posted by Robert Thompson