{"id":4895,"date":"2018-10-04T17:55:21","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T17:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/?p=4895"},"modified":"2018-10-04T17:55:21","modified_gmt":"2018-10-04T17:55:21","slug":"pga-tour-opener-to-include-record-number-of-canadians-in-the-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/pga-tour-opener-to-include-record-number-of-canadians-in-the-field","title":{"rendered":"PGA Tour Opener to Include Record Number of Canadians in the Field"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Canadian golfer Ben Silverman has qualified for the PGA season opener being held at the Silverado Resort and Spa<\/p><\/div>\n

The PGA season opener taking place at the Silverado Resort and Spa North has the largest contingent Canadian golfers since the PGA began to maintain records in 1970.<\/p>\n

A number of those that will take part in the opener are long-standing PGA tour veterans while others did not secure their spot until the last minute. There are eight Canadians in total that will join the field at Silverado and includes regulars such as Brantford, Ontario\u2019s David Hearn as well as B.C\u2019s Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor. Joining the trip is Listowel, Ontario\u2019s Corey Conners, Dundas, Ontario\u2019s Mackenzie Hughes, B.C\u2019s Adam Svensson and Roger Sloan and Thornhill, Ontario\u2019s Ben Silverman.<\/p>\n

The last few years have been breakout years for Ben Silverman<\/a>, who joined a list of Canadian golfers who made names for themselves on the lower level tour. Commenting on those who made it, Silverman said,<\/p>\n

“I think we were just pushing each other to get better. We were all very talented at the time but just not there yet, not at Tour level yet. Just knowing that there was only two or three Canadians to look at \u2014 yet we were all right there in the mini-tour ranks \u2014 it just probably pushed us all and motivated us all to make it.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Previous to this seasons high of eight, the highest number of Canadians that qualified for the season opener or a PGA event was seven. That took place in 1987 at both the BMW Championship and the John Deere Classic, both of which were non-domestic events. The same number, seven qualified for the 2008 U.S. Open and last year at the CareerBuilder Challenge and the Safeway Open that is held at Silverado.<\/p>\n

Silverman was hoping to make the cut to rejoin the PGA Tour and needed to have a strong finish at the Web.com Tour Championship<\/a> and was able to finish in the top 25. Thornhill\u2019s Roger Sloan finished tenth, and B.C\u2019s Adam Svensson finished 14th.<\/p>\n

Bettinardi Golf<\/strong><\/p>\n