Weir nursing injury entering Canadian Open

Mike Weir will attempt to become the first Canadian to win his country's national championship since 1954 today when the Canadian Open returns to Royal George's Golf and Country Club for the first time in 42 years.

Weir, who will be making his 20th bid to end the dry spell, came close to winning the event in 2004 before losing in a playoff to Vijay Singh. Weir has been struggling of late, however, with tendonitis in his forearm and might have a tough time being the best of 13 Canadians in the field. Last year Australian Nathan Green beat South Africa's Retief Goosen on the second hole of a playoff.

The last Canadian winner of the Canadian Open was Pat Fletcher, who won at age 38 to break a 40-year dry spell for his country. Green became the sixth international player to win the event since 1980 when he won last year at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

Royal George's Golf and Country Club, which affords some great views of the Toronto skyline, is considered one of the great old courses in Canada. It is an old-fashioned layout featuring mature trees lining sloping fairways and is made more difficult by the strategic placement of 103 bunkers. Its contoured greens are undulating and demand precise iron shots.

Top names in the field include Tim Clark, Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Matt Kuchar, Camilo Villegas, Goosen, Bill Haas, Sean O'Hair and Ricky Barnes. Because the course will be a new test for everyone in the field, it wouldn't be surprising to see a relatively unknown player emerge from the pack and win. Such a scenario would fit into the recurring theme of first-time winners this summer on the PGA Tour started by Justin Rose at the Memorial and followed by Graeme McDowell in the U.S. Open and Bubba Watson at the Travelers.

Bob Charles defeated Jack Nicklaus by two shots the last time the Canadian Open was played at Royal George's in 1968. That should offer Weir more hope in as much as he and Charles are left-handers. Interestingly, Nicklaus' loss to Charles was the first of a record seven runner-up finishes in one of the only tournaments the Golden Bear never won.

The tournament can be seen on ESPN2 (today: 12-2 p.m.; Friday: 12-2 p.m.; Saturday: 2-3:30 p.m.; Sunday: 1-3 p.m.), Golf Channel (today: 12:30-2:30 p.m., 3-6 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m.; Friday: 2-4 a.m., 12:30-2:30 p.m., 3-6 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m.; Saturday: 2-4 a.m., 6:30-9:30 p.m.; Sunday: 2-4 a.m., 7-9:30 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday: 3-6 p.m.; Sunday: 3-6 p.m.)



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For those who didn't get enough of true links golf watching Louis Oosthuizen's stunning seven-shot victory in the British Open last week at St. Andrews, there's this week's Senior Open Championship in Carnoustie, Scotland, on one of the toughest courses in the world.

Five-time British Open champion Tom Watson will be a sentimental favorite to win at Carnoustie, where he won on the Championship Course in 1975 to claim the Claret Jug for the first time.

Watson, 60, has already won the Senior Open title three times, with two of those victories coming at the Turnberry and Muirfield courses where he also won the more famous version of the event. He is still more than capable of playing magical golf, as he showed by finishing second at the 2009 Open.

Joining Watson in an all-star field are former European Ryder Cup players Bernhard Langer, Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam. American Corey Pavin will become the first presiding Ryder Cup captain to play in the tournament, while former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman is also competing along with defending champion Loren Roberts.

Lehman, who captured the Claret Jug in 1996, is one of five former Open Champions playing at Carnoustie, along with Watson, Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo, and Mark Calcavecchia.

The tournament can be seen on ESPN (today: 12-2 p.m.; Friday: 12-2 p.m.; Saturday: 2-3:30 p.m.; Sunday: 1-3 p.m.

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The LPGA and the Ladies European Tour returns this week to picturesque Evian-Les-Bains, France, and the shores of Lake Geneva as 111 tee it up for one of the richest purses of the season at the Evian Masters.

No. 1-ranked Ai Miyazato headlines a strong field as she attempts to defend a title she won last year in a one-hole playoff against Sophie Gustafson. Also in the field are No. 2-ranked Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer.

Creamer, playing through admitted pain from a lingering thumb injury, gave the LPGA a big boost with her four-shot victory in the U.S. Women's Open two weeks ago at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa. Her first major championship was her ninth LPGA Tour victory. The Evian Masters is the site of Creamer's second LPGA victory in 2005, when she cleared the field by eight shots. Last year she shot a final-round 70 to finish in a tie for fifth.

The tournament can be seen on the Golf Channel (today: 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Friday: 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Saturday: 1-4 p.m.; Sunday: 1-4 p.m.).

Information from GolfObserver.com, ESPN.com, PGATOUR.com and LPGA.com contributed to this post.