CARL PETTERSSON CHASED DOWN Dean Wilson on the back nine Sunday to win the RBC Canadian Open, his fourth PGA Tour title and a nice comeback for a good player who struggled in 2009. Pettersson made the cut on the number and then posted a 60 in the third round. Not much was happening on Sunday until the North Carolina resident got to the 8th and then bang, a birdie, followed by five more birdies on the next six holes. Pettersson said he was a consistent top-30 money winner on the PGA Tour until he decided to try to take things up a notch. He looked in the mirror and saw Mr. Pudgy. Maybe getting in better shape would help him improve his game, he reasoned.
�I thought, well, I�ll get fit,� Carl said. �So I actually lost 30 pounds, and my game completely left me.�
Don�t head off to the fridge just yet. There�s more.
�I guess the timing of the swing and everything was thrown out,� he added, �and I really struggled in �09.�
That makes sense to me. It�s happened to other players. David Duval comes to mind.
Whether the swing, equipment, putting, mental game, or, in Pettersson�s case, fitness, there�s not a one-size-fits-all answer for this crazy game. Look for Carl in the buffet line rather than the fitness trailer.
�I�m not your typical Swede, as you know. I don�t have a 28-inch waist, and I don�t eat bananas at the turn, stuff like that.�
The workouts didn�t work out. But that�s OK, because now his game is coming back and he�s the Canadian Open champion.
�You know, I�d love to be fitter,� Carl said, �but I�m not going to go down that road again.�
-The Armchair Golfer
(Quotes via ASAP Sports at RBC Canadian Open)
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