Defending champion Ryan Fox has given Sydney rookie Declan O’Donovan a guided tour of TPC Toronto in preparation for the 23-year-old’s PGA Tour debut at this week’s RBC Canadian Open.
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Incredibly, O’Donovan is one of two Aussies in the field this week whose formative years in the game were spent at Roseville Golf Club on Sydney’s Lower North Shore, two-time PGA Tour winner Cam Davis also coming from humble beginnings there to golf’s greatest stage.
Victory in the Canadian Amateur last July granted O’Donovan direct entry into the PGA Tour event, an exemption he was able to retain despite turning professional after the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last October.
In the seven months since he has earned a first pro win at Webex Players Series Sydney and gone on to claim the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Rookie of the Year title, joining an honour roll that includes Min Woo Lee, Jed Morgan and Haydn Barron.
A steely competitor who plays with the confidence of someone who knows they have done the work, O’Donovan played nine holes with Fox, a former Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner, and Canadian Mackenzie Hughes as his first taste of the tour he would like to one day call home.
“I’m sure that everyone that is playing their first PGA Tour event would be excited, I hope they are, but I’m just keen. Really, really keen,” O’Donovan said on the “Tee It Up” podcast.
“It’s the environment I want to be in every week. That’s the first thing I was thinking when I arrived at the course, was like, this is exactly where I want to be playing my career every week.”
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Leaving nothing to chance, O’Donovan spent time in Dallas and at the Golf Australia house in Jacksonville, Florida, prior to four days of practice at the National Golf Club of Canada just outside Toronto.
With coach Ben Patterson serving as best man at a friend’s wedding back home, O’Donovan has Dean Kinney on the bag, the pair making a winning combination at Webex Players Series Sydney at Castle Hill in February.
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Also aiding O’Donovan’s prep is the sneak peek he had at the golf course in the wake of his Canadian Amateur triumph.
“After I won the Canadian Amateur last year, I just coincidentally was in Toronto for the week before US Am,” said O’Donovan, who had top-five finishes at the Heritage Classic and The National Tournament to end his maiden season on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
“I played the course with Billy Dowling and some mates and it’s so good, the place is lovely.
“Dean’s been helping me out with some other stuff away from my swing and I really like having him on the bag. We’ve had some great success like at Castle Hill and I’ve got him over here just to caddie for this event and get me in the best frame of mind.
“He keeps me very level-headed and ticking all the boxes I can.”