The Skinny hits Sterling Off to Sterling, MA we go. Sterling, like Cranston, is defending champless. Sean O'Hair, last year's champ, is currently living the Good Life on the PGA Tour, replete with courtesy cars, succulent spreads grander than the Last Supper and multi-millionaire contracts (deep sigh). That being said, the list of contenders in this year's Sterling Open is deeper than one of Jacque Cousteaus' legendary sea diving excursions. Let's begin with the obvious suspects: Mike Harris. Robbie Opp has earned the name Land O' Lakes for his recent hot streak, but Harris takes the "on a roll" moniker to a whole 'nother level. With four wins in his last five developmental tour events, Harris owns the roll, the butter and the knife. Consider this: From June 13th to July 31st, he played twenty rounds of golf in six events a collective 50-under-par, grossing him a cool $63,580. That torrid stretch makes a heat wave in Phoenix look like a fall day in Manchester, NH. It gets better. Sterling Country Club, this week's venue, plays to a yardage of just 6,666 yards. This layout suits Harris' controlled, precise game to a tee. On the contrary, long hitting Nick Cook (Shelton, CT) also enters Sterling in tow with Mr. Momentum, having bagged his first professional victory in the Connecticut Open last week. Cook's sheer ability carried him to top 10 finishes in the four CGT events. Now that he has proven to himself he can win, a W on the CGT might be right around the corner. Likewise for Geoff Sisk, who will head down I-90 to Sterling with back-to-back top 3 finishes in LeBaron and Cranston. We all knew the increased depth of each event would make things tougher for Mr. Three-Time CGT POY. And, winless in four events this year, it certainly has. After a slow start to the season, though, Sisk's game is rounding into form. At age 40, he aches more and heals less quickly than the Baby Bombers on Tour. But the hands of time will never affect the man's knack for winning golf tournaments. Quietly, Sisk has jumped to 3rd on the money list. A win in Sterling would put an end to his 10 month winless stretch and vault him past CGT money king Robbie Oppenheim, who happens to be tied for the lead in the Montreal Open with none other than Mike Harris as I write this. The Skinny also has an eye on Matty Doyle and Billy Downes this week. Doyle proved he can handle the back nine heat in Cranston, canning two must have birdie putts and narrowly missing another on the 17th that veered offline after catching a spike mark. Doyle finished one shot ahead of Downes, who rallied in the final round with a 67 that included a bogey on the par-5 17th. His third place showing was his third top 10 of the season. As an interesting sidebar, Downes and his wife, Lauren, are expecting their first child. The Skinny can't help but remember the tear O'Hair went on last summer, highlighted by his win in Sterling, after announcing he was going to have a child with his wife, Jacky. Perhaps Downes can pull of the Baby Double at Sterling. This five-pack of CGTers have caught the Skinny's eye, but a Diamond in the Rough is sure to emerge once again this week. Have we left off someone who you feel is Skinny-worthy? Drop us a line: media@clevelandgolftour.com |