Beautiful day, eh? The PGA Tour pays a visit to the Great White North this week for the RBC Canadian Open, the final event before our national Open at Pebble Beach. Elsewhere we have LPGA Tour action in New Jersey, drama at U.S. Open sectional qualifying, and the most unusual event on the European Tour.

See-rup, Sir-up, or Sirp?

The PGA Tour schedule shuffle has moved the Canadian Open from July to June, bringing a strong field to Ontario. Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Sergio Garcia, and defending champion Dustin Johnson will headline at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. Tee Times

Walk in the park

Dustin Johnson leads the RBC troops into battle in Canada this week as he defends his title from a year ago. DJ made just three bogeys over his final three rounds, shooting 66-65-66 to win by three shots. Sunday was an impressive yet boring affair as Dustin sauntered his way to an easy victory. His 265 total on the week broke Tiger’s record for lowest score at the Canadian Open.

Storylines

June –  No event benefited more from the schedule change than the Canadian Open. Traditionally played the week following the Open Championship, it will now serve as a tuneup for the U.S. Open.

Hamilton – The move to June isn’t the only change that the Canadian Open is making in 2019. Hamilton Golf and Country Club will host the event, a welcome change from Glen Abbey. Designed by Harry Shapland Colt in 1915, Hamilton is widely regarded as one of the best courses in Canada. Hamilton has hosted the Canadian Open before, most recently in 2012.

Brooksy – Fresh off a couple of down weeks, Brooks Koepka will make his only start between the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. He’ll probably coast to a T-6 finish or something—got to save the winning for Pebble.

Natives – It has been 65 years since a Canadian has won the Canadian Open. Mike Weir came close in 2004 but ultimately fell to Vijay Singh in a playoff. Despite the drought, the Canadians have a strong chance to notch a win this week, with Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes, and Austin Connelly leading the charge.

Paulie’s Picks

With a new venue, Paulie expects a different type of player to thrive in Canada, check out his picks here.

Shoprite LPGA Classic

The LPGA heads up the east coast and finds a home on the Jersey Shore this week. Annie Park returns to defend her title, but she has to contend with a strong field. Stacy Lewis, Lexi Thompson, Angel Yin, and U.S. Women’s Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 are among the challengers in New Jersey. Tee Times

U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying

The longest day in golf took place on Monday as hundreds of players attempted to earn spots in the U.S. Open. There was drama and heartbreak at every site, and only the best moved on to Pebble Beach. Among the professional qualifiers were Luke Guthrie, Jason Dufner, Sam Saunders, Luke Donald, and Zac Blair. Amateurs Collin Morikawa, Brandon Wu, Kevin Yu, and Stewart Hagestad qualified as well. Full Scoring

Quick Hooks

Matthew Wolff and Maria Fassi took home the Fred Haskins and Annika Awards last night for top college golfers. Wolff won the NCAA Championship as well as five other events this season, and Fassi won both the SEC and NCAA Championships.

The European Tour moves from the Belgium Knockout event to another distinctive format: Golfsixes Cascais. Teams of two will represent their countries in this tournament, which features six-hole matches, greensomes, and shot clocks. Teams

It’s Pro-Am time for the Web.com Tour as players head to South Carolina. The BMW Charity Pro-Am will get underway on three courses on Thursday. Michael Arnaud will return to defend his title. Tee Times

The Latest Podcasts and Articles

We stand on guard for thee, Sectional qualifying minutiae, and Haney’s Twitter misuse

It’s a big week for the Shotgun Start with a national open and sectional qualifying. We begin with the schedule for the week, going first with the Canadian Open’s big move away from Andy’s nightmare, Glen Abbey. What does this Harry Colt design have in store for this year and in this new spot on the schedule? Will it be enough to earn Andy’s “Event of the Week” honors? We do wonder if there’s a title sponsor conspiracy afoot with some of the featured groups and Brendan has some questions about the Champions Tour sprinkling in a random Japan event between two tournaments in the Big Ten footprint. Then we run through some U.S. Open sectional qualifying results, focusing on a few notable pros, upstart amateurs, and fascinating stories that have made it to the big show next week. In news, we FINALLY give the people what they want and address the abominable Matt Kuchar ruling argument last week at Memorial. Should some sort of system be put in place for failed longshot rules asks? Also in news, we hit on Hank Haney not really understanding how Twitter, or the world, really works. We wrap with a spirited Paulie’s picks segment, focusing on some low Canadian options and some player skills that might be preferable for this Hamilton venue. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify