David Hearn's impossible dream dies on the greens at the Canadian Open

OAKVILLE, ON. -- The ghost of Pat Fletcher will continue to haunt the Canadian Open for at least another year.

The dream of having a Canadian win the tournament for the first time since Fletcher did it six decades ago died late Sunday afternoon when native son David Hearn came up short after starting the day with a two-stroke lead.

Hearn was the victim of missed opportunities, but also of Australian Jason Day, who took the tournament by birdying the final three holes. Day finished the tournament at 17-under, one ahead of Bubba Watson and two ahead of Hearn.

"I'm really proud to be a Canadian today," Hearn said afterward. "It's something very special and I hope to be back in that position sometime soon.  I will always remember that feeling I had today.

"I still had a chance to win with four or five holes to go in the tournament, but I just didn't make the birdies."
While the enthusiastic Canadian fans were disappointed in the outcome, a victory by Hearn truly would have been one of the most unlikely in tournament history. Day is the eighth-ranked player in the world and Watson the third. Hearn, who has never won in his 10 years on the PGA Tour, is ranked 128th (though he will jump up a few spots after this performance.)

It truly was a David-and-Goliaths battle, but this time one of the Goliaths won.

Still, the 36-year-old from Brantford, Ont., went toe-to-toe with the best in the world and might have emerged victorious if only he could have made a few more putts -- putts that came tantalizingly close to going in.

"There were so many putts that he hit that should have fallen in," Watson said. "He played great."

In the end, it was the putter that had put Hearn in the unlikely position atop the leader board that let him down. Hole after hole, he came up short -- both literally and figuratively -- on birdie putts. Instead of holding a two or three-stroke advantage, he was clinging to a one-stroke lead.

"I guess I just wasn't aggressive enough with the speed at times," Hearn said.

And then it all started to fade away on the 16th, when Hearn approached the green knowing that Day had birdied to tie for the lead at 15-under.

Hearn had a shot at a birdie, but missed by an inch. When Day, aided by a 386-yard drive on 17, took the lead with another birdie hopes for the Canadian's impossible dream were diminishing rapidly.
Another just-missed birdie attempt on 17 set the stage for what must have been one of the most painful moments Hearn has ever experienced on the golf course.

As he stood 220 yards from the 18th green, contemplating the great shot he had to make for birdie to possibly force a playoff, he watched Day hole a 21-foot birdie putt that pushed his lead to two and all but ended the dream.

"I knew then it was all or nothing," Hearn said.

His slim hopes of getting an eagle ended seconds later when Hearn's second shot landed in the bunker.

His ensuing bunker shot was brilliant, but came up short of the hole. Adding insult to injury, but not unexpected given the day's events, Hearn's birdie putt did a 360 around the hole and dropped him to third place.

"That kind of summarized the day," Hearn said.

When the day started, it looked like Hearn just might pull if off. Possibly because of nerves, he kept hitting his tee shots into the right rough. He missed badly on the first two holes, but amazingly escaped with birdies thanks to a hot putter.

He didn't hit a fairway until the sixth, though seldom missed after that.

But Hearn, who led the field in putting all week, couldn't keep the short game magic going.

He started having trouble with his speed, something he had brilliantly under control in the first three rounds.

He missed a series of birdie opportunities: a 12-footer that came up short on the seventh, a 14-footer on the eighth, a 30-footer on nine and a 10-footer on 11 that just slipped by the hole.

At that point, he led Day by a stroke and should have been ahead by at least one more.

Then things turned sour for Hearn. He overshot the green on the par-3 12th, shot his chip shot out of deep rough across the green and settled for a bogey.

That dropped him into a three-way tie at the top with Day and Jim Furyk.

Things looked like they weren't going to go much better on the 13th when his 265-yard approach shot flew the green and landed in a depression behind the flag. His chip shot came up short, dangerously close to rolling back down the hill.

But he brought the gallery to its feet by sinking a 18-foot putt from off the green for a birdie to reclaim the lead.

He could have added to it on 14, but his 10-foot birdie attempt agonizingly came up inches short.

But despite his troubles, nobody else could take advantage until Day and Watson, who birdied five of his lastsix holes, put David in his place.

While most Canadian eyes were on Hearn, fellow Canuck Adam Hadwin was tearing up the course. He started out with three birdies and an eagle on the first six holes before bogeying the par-3 seventh.

Not only did the Moose Jaw native make an impression on the golf world, he made the highlight reels by hitting a great shot out of the water on seventh, a shot made without shoes or socks.

After a couple of birdies on the back nine, Hadwin drew within three of the leaders at one point, but bunker trouble on the 14th resulted in a double bogey to all but end any dreams he had of contending.

He finished strong, though, firing a 68 to end the day tied for seventh place, 6-under and tournament 12-under.

"Getting off to a start like that is something that you sort of dream of," said the 27-year-old.

Though most were marvelling at Hadwin's strong start and hoping he might crack the top 10, Hadwin had other ideas when he went to 6-under on the day and 13-under on the tournament.

"I was thinking I can win it," he said. "My goal was to try to get a couple more and be tied for the lead before Hearn even teed off."

It was a pretty good day all around for Canadian golf.

Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., finished tied for 34th place thanks to four birdies on the back nine. He played the tournament 8-under.

"I putted pretty well all week, just today kind of let me down," the 21-year-old said after his third appearance at the Canadian Open. "I had a lot of fun. It was my first PGA Tour event as a pro, so I can't complain."