U.S. Open Preview: Taylor, big Canadian crew go back to work in Hollywood

How did Nick Taylor celebrate the biggest win of his life?

After getting just three hours of sleep Sunday night – he skipped the chartered plane ride RBC Canadian Open organizers had readied for guys to get to the U.S. Open – he eventually did get to Los Angeles, but only after hearing from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Wayne Gretzky (in the McDonald's drive-thru, at that), and voicing a special video to preview Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sportsnet.

But now it’s time to get back to work.

After a major win, it’s a major week – the U.S. Open is set to tee off Thursday with seven Canadians in the field, tied for the most ever, and led by Canada’s newest golfing hero.

The third major of the year on the men’s side heads to Los Angeles Country Club for the first time, in the heart of Hollywood. Taylor, whose best finish at the U.S. Open was a tie for 36th when he was an amateur in 2009, played nine holes Tuesday and will play another nine holes Wednesday as he tries to fill the tank back up after a wild, exciting, life-changing Sunday night.

It makes sense that the next event on Taylor’s schedule is a major, however, because that is the next thing he said he wants to take on.

“I think major championships are what we’re all striving for,” Taylor said. “(The RBC Canadian Open) is fifth on the list, I think, from the four majors (for Canadians). With Mike Weir having the Masters 20 years ago, Corey (Conners) has played unbelievable the last two or three years in a lot of major championships. He's been inspiring to play well at the top of the best fields out here.

“But that's the next step. Hopefully I'll be in a lot more of them.”

While Taylor rocketed up the Official World Golf Ranking to No. 44 after his Sunday triumph – the highest such point in the rankings in his career – Canada’s top-ranked male golfer remains Conners at No. 29. Conners was tied the first-round lead at the RBC Canadian Open before fading Sunday into a tie for 20th. However, this is the second big event in a row for Conners where he’s been firmly in the conversation, having held the 36-hole lead at the PGA Championship and getting into the penultimate pairing for Sunday’s finale at Oak Hill Golf and Country Club near Rochester, N.Y.

“Obviously learn from not coming through ultimately but lots of positives to take from those and some added comfort in knowing I feel that’s where I belong,” Conners told Sportsnet. “Being able to (win) is another thing – but getting into those positions is important and gives me some good feelings heading into this week.”

Conners said he takes plenty of positives from those big events, especially as he’s looked upon as another sneaky favourite for this week. LACC will demand superior ball-striking, given how sloped and difficult the green complexes are. Conners is eighth on the PGA Tour in greens in regulation this season.

“I felt like I was hitting the ball as good as I ever had (at the RBC Canadian Open) and that’s something I’m going to rely on again this week definitely,” Conners said. “I know it’s going to be in there for me. Just sharpen it up a little bit. Wasn’t the best over the weekend but I know it’s there.”

While Conners and Taylor have plenty of buzz around them, Adam Hadwin may have been the most popular early-week arrival at the U.S. Open, given his newfound internet fame.

Hadwin, who feels fine, went viral after a security guard tackled him to the ground in the celebration Sunday night. He was not wearing his credential and was in street clothes and came running at Taylor with a bottle of champagne before the security guard stopped him. Cue the memes. The USGA even left a construction vest and hard hat in Hadwin’s locker to make sure safety was a priority this week.

“I walked (onto the plane) with Mr. Hadwin and everyone wanted to chat with him. See if he was alive,” Conners said with a laugh.

Ironically enough, despite this week being a major championship, it’s actually a bit of a come-down for the Canadian crew after last week.

Taylor’s drought-busting victory aside, the Canadian players in the field at the RBC Canadian Open are pulled in a lot of directions through the week and need to deal with a lot more than what they’re used to week-in and week-out on the PGA Tour. Even though this is a hearty test on a big-time platform, the Canadians actually get to relax a bit.

“Just staying in a hotel by myself this week just trying to rest up and get rejuvenated and come down off the high of Sunday and being there with Nick. It won’t be a relaxing week because it’s such a demanding test, but don’t have much else going on,” Conners said, chuckling. “I can just focus on the golf.”

The rest of the Canadian contingent at LACC includes Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C.

SPOTLIGHT ON LACC

Often at the U.S. Open the golf course becomes the biggest star of the week, and this week is likely going to be no different.

A U.S. Open hasn’t been hosted in Los Angeles for 75 years, and this golf course – located just 15 minutes from Hollywood Blvd. – is a unique one.

The club originally was designed in 1927 and underwent a five-year, multi-million-dollar restoration project to bring the look and feel all the way back to that original design. The course will play to a par 70, with five par-3s and three par-5s. The collection of par-3s will be the turning-point holes on the course as they range in length from just 80 yards all the way to 300 yards.

The golf course is also using Bermuda grass (it’s the first U.S. Open with Bermuda grass since 2005), which is a unique thing for California. It usually thrives in hot temperatures like Florida and the Caribbean and hasn’t grown that long at LACC – but it is thick.

“It definitely had some classic elements it’s not really like the courses we play week-in and week-out – more rugged and natural,” Conners said. “First impression is that it’s pretty cool but there are some weird holes, you can’t always see where you’re going. It’s unique.”

“I think it’s a great test. Very tricky in all aspects,” added Pendrith. “Fairways are relatively wide for a U.S. Open but have severe slopes which make them difficult to hit. Knowing where to miss on second shots will be key because there is nasty rough around the greens and greens are very slopey and fast. Lots of long irons into par 4s and the par 3s will require headcovers off.”

BIG BROOKS IS BACK

The reigning PGA Championship winner is looking to add another U.S. Open trophy to his collection this week, as Brooks Koepka is back in action at another major.

Koepka, who already has two U.S. Open titles to his credit, finished tied for second at the Masters in April prior to his PGA Championship triumph. He now has five majors on his resume and said there’s a reason why he seems to perform so well on golf’s biggest stages.

“I enjoy the chaos,” Koepka said. “I'm pretty sure I know what it takes to compete in majors. I've won five of them and been second four times. And just over my track record how to prepare when you're here, how to prepare when you're home for it, I've got that, I guess, on lock.”

FROM HOLYWOOD TO HOLLYWOOD

What can we expect from Rory McIlroy this week?

McIlroy was originally scheduled for a pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday morning but decided against that. He did not speak Sunday night at the RBC Canadian Open either when his reign as two-time champion came to close after a final-round 72.

McIlroy (who is from Holywood, Northern Ireland) said he enjoys playing the week prior to major championships, and his tie for ninth in Toronto was his sixth top-10 finish of the season, and third in a row. While he missed the cut at the Masters and The Players Championship, he finished tied for seventh at the PGA Championship.

McIlroy remains ranked as No. 3 in the world behind Jon Rahm at No. 2 and Scottie Scheffler at No. 1. Scheffler, who has won twice this season including The Players, and Rahm, who has won four times including the Masters, are the betting favourites.

But McIlroy, who hasn’t won a major since 2014, seems to be peaking at the right time – and tuning out the noise.

MAJOR GOLF NEWS AT A MAJOR WEEK

While the golf world is still feeling the aftershocks of the surprise bombshell dropped Tuesday of RBC Canadian Open week – the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Aribia had joined into an agreement of a go-forward framework for a seismic reconstruction of men’s professional golf and all litigation had been dropped – plenty of the game’s best were not in Toronto to address the new news.

Many decided against speaking to it specifically. A USGA representative had to cut off a follow-up question to defending U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, and two-time major winner Collin Morikawa decided to skip answering the question and instead talk about a new junior-golf initiative he had started.

Rahm, however, said the general feeling amongst the players it that they felt “a bit of betrayal” from PGA Tour brass. He understands the secrecy of why the architects of the deal didn’t bring it to the Player Advisory Council, but that doesn’t make it an easier pill to swallow when many of the game’s best found out the news via social media.

“It's just not easy as a player that's been involved, like many others, to wake up one day and see this bombshell,” Rahm said. “That's why we're all in a bit of a state of limbo because we don't know what's going on and how much is finalized and how much they can talk about, either.”

While the players are still recovering from the news, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is recuperating from a “medical situation,” it was announced Tuesday night. He is stepping away from his duties leading the Tour while he recovers.

The Tour’s current chief operating officer and president will combine to step in for day-to-day operations.