Masters champ Charl Schwartzel commits to playing Canadian Open

Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and three-time major winner Ernie Els.

How's that for a South African threesome?

It's an intriguing trio that organizers of the RBC Canadian Open might want to throw together in the same group at this summer's tournament at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club.

We have known for quite some time that Els will be playing at Shaughnessy, but the additions of Schwartzel and Oosthuizen are a big bonus for a Canadian Open field that is shaping up to be the best in many years.

Oosthuizen's sister-in-law, Kamloops resident Susanna Swart, confirmed their participation in a phone interview on Wednesday. She and her family just returned from the Masters, which Schwartzel won in dramatic fashion by birdieing the final four holes on Sunday.

"They are both coming to play," said Swart, whose younger sister, Nel-Mare, is married to Oosthuizen.

Swart said Oosthuizen and Schwartzel, along with their families, will be joining she and her husband Servaas and their children at a lake-front home in the Okanagan for a vacation right after the Canadian Open.

Oosthuizen, who won last summer's British Open, and Schwartzel have been close friends since their junior golf days in South Africa and have previously visited the Kamloops area for vacations.

Oosthuizen even played a round of golf in relative anonymity at Tobiano near Kamloops after his British Open win last summer at St. Andrews.

"Louis comes every year and Charl has been here twice now," Swart said, then added with a laugh: "Just think about it, these are two guys who have both stayed in my basement. They have both won majors. It's funny, eh."

Swart is convinced Schwartzel's Masters win won't change his plans.

"We texted Charl the other day just joking about it," she said. "And he said I'll see you this summer."

Swart said after their Okanagan vacation, Oosthuizen and Schwartzel are planning to fly out of Kelowna to the Bridgestone Invitational, a World Golf Championship event scheduled for Aug. 4-7 in Akron, Ohio.

Bill Paul, Golf Canada's tournament director, said Wednesday that Schwartzel and Oosthuizen have not yet officially committed to the event.

"On the tail of Augusta that would be great news," Paul said. "It would certainly be great to have the current British Open and Masters champions at the RBC Canadian Open. But until a player commits or has told me he plans to commit I really can't comment. But it sounds like a great story and I'm on it."

Schwartzel and Oosthuizen would join an impressive list of players expected at Shaughnessy for the July 21-24 event. Luke Donald, Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar, Anthony Kim and Els are already committed to play in the $5.2 million US event.

The Canadian Open is returning to Shaughnessy after a successful event there in 2005. That tournament was won by Mark Calcavecchia, who now is a regular on the Champions Tour but has said he plans to return to Shaughnessy this summer.

This year's tournament is being held the week after the British Open at Royal St. George's and tournament organizers have a charter aircraft booked to fly players to Vancouver from England.