New view for defending champion Verplank

Scott Verplank left last year's Canadian Open with his first PGA Tour victory of the season, and it certainly was the most timely.

The Ryder Cup was only three weeks away. As the first rookie to be a captain's pick for the U.S. team, he backed up his selection with a two-stroke victory at Royal Montreal against a field that included Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia.

His swing was sound, his confidence so high, that Verplank worried only about hitting fairways and greens, and adding up his score at the end of the day.

``Everything was excellent,'' he said Wednesday.

It didn't last long.

He flew home to Oklahoma that night and spent Monday raising money for a scholarship in the name of Nate Fleming, the Oklahoma State basketball player who was among those killed when a team charter crashed in Colorado.

The next day, he was on his way out the door to play in the American Express Championship in St. Louis when he heard two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center, and a third had hit the Pentagon.

``It was the shortest celebration I've ever had after winning a tournament,'' he said. ``I don't know that I was particularly ready to play any time after that. I don't know that I really ever had the same kind of fire or motivation.''

More changes are waiting at this year's Canadian Open.

The third-oldest national championship in golf has moved to Angus Glen Golf Club just north of Toronto, a relatively new course that is long (7,372 yards) and wide, a stark contrast to the tree-lined, bending fairways of Royal Montreal.

``The rough is very thick,'' Verplank said. ``But if you're hitting it good, you should not see a whole lot of rough this week.''

Woods decided not to return, and the field features only five of the top 30 in the world ranking (Vijay Singh is the highest-ranked at No. 9).

And while the Ryder Cup still is three weeks away -- it was postponed a year because of the terrorist attacks -- some of the excitement has tapered.

``It's a little different,'' Verplank said. ``Part of it is because it's been stretched out over a year now. The only times I've kind of had a blood rush to my head was when I was trying on all my stuff. That kind of gets you pumped up.''

Another victory in the Canadian Open might also do the trick.

The odds don't favor Verplank, since no one has repeated as champion since Jim Ferrier. Still, Verplank might keep this nugget of history in mind: Ferrier won at Royal Montreal in 1950, and he won the following near at Mississaugua, not far from Toronto.

Verplank is known for his accuracy off the tee, one reason Curtis Strange made him a captain's pick for the Ryder Cup.

Angus Glen figures to be about power.

``It's a little bit like what the Tour is trending toward, which is more of a bomber's paradise,'' Verplank said. ``A course like this, as wide as the fairways are, it's kind of swing away on a lot of holes. But that's OK. You've still got to shoot good scores.''

Without Woods as the main attraction, and with Phil Mickelson having withdrawn because of a twinge in his back, the spotlight shifts to Mike Weir and Ian Leggatt, the only two Canadians with PGA Tour victories in the last three years.

``This is my national championship for the year,'' Weir said.

This is his time of the year, too. All three of his PGA Tour victories have come late in the season, and the last two have been marquee events -- the Tour Championship in Houston last year, the World Golf Championship in Spain the year before.

``I feel like I have as good a chance as anybody,'' he said. ``It's just a matter of time. This would be a perfect week to do it.''

The problem for Weir is pressure, most of it self-applied. He missed the cut in his first nine Canadian Opens, finished 70th in 2000 at Glen Abbey and took a big step last year in Montreal by tying for 34th.

``It's probably a little bit of my own expectations, trying a little too hard,'' he said. ``I think as I get older, I'm getting better at that. Hopefully, my game will show that.''

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