Chips & Putts: Canadian Open Gets A Makeover To Return To Glory

RBC Canadian Open Beefing Up Amenities For Players, Fans At This Year's Tourney

In Toronto, Jim Byers noted the PGA Tour Canadian Open, with help from title sponsor RBC, is "getting back to where it once belonged." The '08 RBC Canadian Open, which will tee off July 24 at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario, will feature concerts and players will "have BMWs to shuttle themselves around town." Additionally, new courses like the "highly-regarded St. George's have been added" to the Canadian Open schedule. Tournament Dir Bill Paul Sunday said the Royal Canadian Golf Association is "going in a different direction. It feels different. It looks different." PGA Tour member Stephen Ames said the tournament is "getting back to ... where it used to be the fifth major" (TORONTO STAR, 7/1).

NO REST FOR THE WEARY: In DC, Leonard Shapiro reports PGA Tour member Rocco Mediate has signed another agent, Florida-based Tom Elliott, though his relationship with Pittsburgh-based agent Frank Zoracky "remains intact." Zoracky yesterday said that since Mediate's runner-up finish to Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open, both he and Mediate have "been inundated with offers from endorsements to book deals to appearance fees at international events." Zoracky: "He's had a phenomenal number of opportunities, a lot of things we never anticipated, and we're in the process of filtering through everything to see what we'll do" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/2).

HAVING MORE FUN: In Orlando, Shannon Owens wrote, "If you look at every provocative image of a woman in sports you usually find a blonde." Five of the seven LPGA players making up the Wilhelmina 7 are blonde, and despite the "fact that exactly half of the current top 50 players on the tour are from Asian countries," only one of the seven, Stacy Prammanasudh, has Asian roots. Owens wrote of blonde women, "If you are even marginally talented and decent looking, marketing executives will find a way to cram your beauty down the throats of the American public" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 7/1).

FASHION SHOW: In Arkansas, Tonya McKiever reports moisturizers, mascara wands and blow dryers yesterday were "center stage" at the LPGA P&G Beauty Northwest Arkansas Championship. Two suites at the John Q. Hammons Center were "transformed into salons, stocked with [P&G] products, and staffed by two well-known beauty experts." A style show featuring LPGAers and some local women was planned for the evening (Benton County DAILY RECORD, 7/2).