Even at the top of his game, Emanuele Canonica does not cast as long a shadow as fellow competitors at the Advil Western Open. But halfway thourgh Friday’s second round, he disappeared completely. At 5 feet 2 inches, the native of Italy who reside in Monaco was the shortesa golfer in this week’s tournament at Cog Hill.

He was demonstrating that he is also one the longest hitters… until he had to hail a golf cart and leave the course on the ninth hole.

After bombing one of his signature powerful drives he’s fourth in the PGA’s statistics averaging 293.6 yards per drive Canonica decided he wouldn’t cast any shadow on Cog Hill’s championship Dubsdread course for the western’s final two rounds.

He felt a spasm in his back and was forced to withdraw. “I had no problem with the swing, but I felt pain low in my back when I brought my arms in after the follow-through” Canonica said “bad luck today. But it was nice to be here, a nice place.”

His caddie, Max Walker, said Canonica “was hitting all out at the beginning, even though he complained of a bad back on the first tee. But after he teed off on no.9 he said “That didn’t feel good. I felt a twinge. I got his ball and we got in the cart.”

After getting a therapeutic massage at the players’ medical trailer, Canonica said he had no back problems in Thursday’s round, when he shot 2-over 74.
“When I finished, I went to my hotel in an air-conditioned car” he said. “When I got out, I felt it in my back.”

Canonica was 4 over for the day and 6 over the tournament, but he was most disappointed about not being able to compete at his best against what he considers golf’s elite. “The biggest difference between tournaments in Europe and the U.S. is there are much better players here” he said. “The field is much stronger”.

He characterized Dubsdread as “a good golf course. I like it. Long fairways, tough pins, but it is in very good condition”.

Now 29, Canonica began playing when he was 5, encouraged by his father, a professional golfer and instructor “I like to play soccer,” he said.
“My father said, Come to golf. I won a few amatour champinships. That helped me to like the game.” Length came naturally to him.

“I don’t know where the power came from, but I’ve always had good body and shoulder rotation” he said. While he won’t be able to demstrate it this weekend, he hopes to compete in future Western Opens. And he might not have to travel as far to get here as he did this year.
“I live in Monaco, and I want to come live in the U.S.”, he said.

What attracted Canonica and his wife antonella to Monaco was not its friedly tax structure, but its beaches.
He intends to see what America has to offer in California and Miami. And because he will ha ve extra time this weekend, depending on how his back feels, “maybe I can see Chicago and Lake Michigan” he said. In his first year on the PGA Tour, Canonica has competed in 14 tournaments and made four cuts.

Having to withdraw from the Western was yet another tough learning experience.
But one decent tournament can compensate.

For Canonica it was the Nissan Open in february at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, where he finished seventh and enjoyed a $113,900 payday. That accounts for most of his $133,000 in prize money this year. Canonica is mastering English.
And as he discussed his early strategy Friday for dealing with his back pain, he demonstrated he already understands American marketing.
“at the first tee”, he said, “I took two Advil.”

Maybe the oversized replicas of boxes of the sponsor’s product as tee markers on every hole reminded him.
Whatever his motivation, it almost gave him nine holes of relief. And he didn’t last for 18.

Canonica also accepts that he is not a household name, or even a pronunceablename, on the PGA Tour.

When introduced as “Cornica” by the pubblic-adress announcer at the first tee, he simply nodded to polite applause from spectators.