Golf glance
COMING UP
PGA TOUR: RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, Thursday through Sunday.
TV: Thursday and Friday, 4-6 p.m. EDT, on the Golf Channel; Saturday and Sunday, 3-6 p.m. EDT, on CBS.
LAST YEAR: Scott Piercy opened with an 8-under-par 62 before posting three 67s, but he had to hold on for a one-stroke victory, the second of his PGA Tour career, over William McGirt and Robert Garrigus at Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Ancaster, Ontario. Piercy, who also captured the 2011 Reno-Tahoe Open, took the lead early in the final round in Canada by carding four consecutive birdies through No. 5, but after bogeys on Nos. 8 and 14, he needed a birdie at No. 15 to tie for the lead. McGirt needed a par on the final hole to force a playoff, but he hit his approach into a greenside bunker and missed an 18-foot putt to finish with a bogey to close out a 69. Garrigus, the 54-hole leader who shot 64 in the first and third rounds, missed a 14-foot birdie putt on No. 18 and closed with a 70.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: The Senior Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, Merseyside, England, Thursday through Sunday.
TV: Thursday through Sunday, noon-2 p.m. EDT, on ESPN all four days.
LAST YEAR: Fred Couples birdied the last two holes, sinking a 25-foot putt on the No. 18 at Turnberry, Scotland, to claim a two-stroke victory over Gary Hallberg, claiming his second major title on the Champions Tour and winning for the first time in Great Britain. Couples, who claimed his only PGA Tour major victory at the 1992 Masters and also won the 2011 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, closed with a 3-under-par 67 to hold off Hallberg, who charged home with a 66, equaling the best score of the day. Through 11 holes in the final round, Couples was tied for first place with 54-hole leader Bernhard Langer. Then the German carded a double-bogey 6 on the 12th hole as Couples made birdie, and Langer fell further back with three consecutive bogeys through No. 17 to close with a 75 that left him in a tie for sixth.
LPGA TOUR: Ricoh Women's British Open on the Old Course at St. Andrews Links in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland, Aug. 1-4.
TV: Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m.-noon; Saturday and 10 a.m.-1 p.m., on ESPN2 all four days.
LAST YEAR: Jiyai Shin of South Korea claimed her second career major title with scores of 71-73 in a 36-hole Sunday marathon to win by a tournament record nine strokes over Inbee Park, also of South Korea, at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, Cheshire, England. Shin, who also captured the 2008 Women's British Open at Sunningdale, was the only player to finish the tournament under par at Hoylake. Coming off a nine-hole playoff victory over Paula Creamer in the Kingsmill Championship, Shin won for the sixth time in her LPGA Tour career. She took control of the tournament by posting an 8-under-par 64 in the second round before Saturday's scheduled third round was postponed by extremely windy and rainy conditions, forcing a 36-hole finish on Sunday.
