OAKVILLE, Ont. -- National opens always put pressure on the home-grown players, but the expectations are particularly high this week at Glen Abbey Golf Club. There are 18 Canadians in the field for the 2013 RBC Canadian Open -- one of the largest home-country turnouts in the modern history of the tournament -- and theyre all looking to end a 59-year drought. No Canadian has won the event since Pat Fletcher of Vancouver in 1954. If anyone can understand the high expectations its former Masters champion Mike Weir. "There is that added feel and pressure, no question," Brights Grove, Ont., native said Wednesday. "It can be a good thing though to get the crowd behind you," he added. "Get some momentum going, and you can feed off the crowd." Weir is joined by fellow Ontarians David Hearn from Brantford, Mackenzie Hughes from Dundas, Torontos Albin Choi, Ottawas Brad Fritsch, Peter Laws from Milton, Brian Hadley from Sarnia and amateur Corey Conners of Listowel. British Columbia is also well represented at Glen Abbey with Abbotsfords Adam Hadwin, Victorias Kevin Carrigan, Merritts Roger Sloan, Comoxs Riley Wheeldon, as well as North Vancouvers Bryn Parry and Eugene Wong and amateur Adam Svensson from Surrey in the field. Calgarys Stephen Ames, Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., and Eric Banks of Truro, N.S., will also tee off Thursday on the 7,253-yard, par-72 course. The added burden on the 18 Canadians has not gone unnoticed by others in the 156-player field. Hunter Mahan, from Dallas, feels that Canadians are under more pressure to win the Canadian Open than Americans are to win the U.S. Open, one of golfs major tournaments. "I dont feel like there is a pride factor (in the U.S.) like there is in Canada . . . I mean, being an American, you want to win the U.S. Open. Its obviously a great tournament -- but I dont think there is that same connection between the Canadian Open and Canada," said Mahan. "You know, when you have a drought that long, I think you have to start really wanting it and start hoping. It becomes a focus of everyone this week, so I think they have a great chance." Englands Luke Donald compared the experience to playing in another major: the British Open, where he missed the cut last week. "The one tournament I would love to win the most would be the Open Championship, the British Open," said Donald. "Growing up there, having watched it, watched some of my idols throughout the years, (Nick) Faldo, and Seve (Ballesteros) win that great tournament, Id dearly love to hold the Claret Jug one of these days, not just because its a major, but because it is your home event in a way. "I think there is a little bit more pressure that comes with that. The expectation and almost the pressure you put on yourself wanting to win it. Youre thinking too much results oriented instead of just going through the process of playing each hole as it comes." Added Donald: "I think sometimes it can make it more difficult when it is your national open, but its also fun. Its great to enjoy the home support, the crowd, the family support, all that goes along with that makes the event special." Mahan compared the pressure of playing in your home country to that of being one of the biggest names in golf. "I guess you would feel like Tiger (Woods) every single week when you have so many people following you and critiquing every single shot you have," said Mahan, laughing. "But its probably different because I think you can see the support that all the Canadians get when theyre here is great." "I remember playing on the Canadian Tour and this is pretty much the lone PGA Tour event I would play," said Weir. "Its a big purse, and youre used to playing for this amount of money and all of a sudden I make the cut, I can really make some headway, so youre thinking about all those kind of things when youre a young man out here." That focus on money is something that frustrates Northern Irelands Graeme McDowell, who believes that national opens are prestigious events that should be held with higher regard. "We play for so much money around the world, events kind of lose their identity and their prestige," said McDowell. The purse for the Canadian Open is US$5.6 million with the winner taking home a cool million. Scott Piercy was the big winner last year. National opens have been good to McDowell though, so he could be walking away with some cash Sunday. "I won the Scottish Open, the Welsh Open, the Italian Open, the U.S. Open, the Korean Open, the French Open a few weeks ago," he said. "National championships are very, very special and we should never forget the prestige . . . and history and tradition, names on a trophy. Its great to come to a tournament like this one which has such a strong sense of identity. Itd be a great one to add your name to." South Africas Ernie Els believes national opens produce some of the best storylines in golf. "Youll see this week, one of the Canadian guys maybe the mainstream media hasnt heard from will probably play well and hell probably be right there until Sunday," said Els. "Those are the nice stories that normally come out of these national opens events that we play around the world and all of them are like that. "You play the Italian Open or the Scottish, some kind of nice story comes out of it." Swell Flaske 500 Ml .4 million title. Ryan Riess emerged with the title after a session in which he started behind, but used expert skill to gather the chips to his side amid the unpredictability of no-limit Texas Hold em. Riess put his final opponent Jay Farber all-in with an Ace-King. Swell Flaske Blå Marmor . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. http://www.swellflaskenorge.com/ .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Kevin Porter and defenceman Chad Ruhwedel from the minors as part of a five-player roster shuffle made by the NHLs worst team. Swell Flaske . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. Swell Flaske Marble . Burris threw two TD passes, including a key 15-yard fourth-quarter strike to Bakari Grant that effectively countered a Toronto comeback bid and led Hamilton to a 33-19 victory. The problems that plague Andrew Luck are the same that hinder Carson Palmer and pretty much any other quarterback or team that was expected to light it up this year but hasnt.As much as an ailing receiver, hurting running back or bad play calling, a patchwork offensive line can carve into a teams efficiency, confidence and, ultimately, its win total.Indianapolis and Arizona were among the teams expected to reach the playoffs this season, but are now dealing with losing records in large part because of uncertainty in their offensive lines. They have given up the second and third-most sacks this season, respectively. Minnesota (11), Carolina (11) and Miami (12) lead the league in number of linemen used this season; only the Dolphins are playing well heading into December.Looking back to last year, I think we got through most of the year with the same guys, said Palmer, whose current line includes two players who werent starters when the season began and a third lineman playing out of position. This year, its been the exact opposite. Its been different guys, different spots, different weeks.Each team has 53 roster spots, and once coaches and GMs move beyond their main playmakers, they look for multi-faceted players who can back up in some positions and play special teams. Because offensive linemen arent common on special teams, the number of spots available for them are often limited -- usually seven or eight on a roster.Injuries are inevitable. That leads to juggling, shifting positions and adding new players. How well the new pieces fit into whats designed as a finely tuned machine, with centers shouting out play calls to the line much the way the quarterback does to the entire offense, can dictate whether injuries equal big trouble or a minor setback.It seems like its a broken record every year, said Colts coach Chuck Pagano, whose team has allowed 38 sacks so far -- one more than all of last season -- en route to a 5-6 mark. Luckily we have a bunch of guys that have some position flexibility and can play multiple spots, but it affects you.Aware of the beating their quarterback was enduring, the Colts used their first-round draft pick this year on a center, Ryan Kelly. He started the first 11 games, but injuries piled up around him. The Colts have used six different line combinations and one player, rookie Joe Haeg, has started at three different spots.It works the other way, too.The Titans started seven different tackles in 2014, en route to a 2-14 recorrd, all of which put them in position to draft Marcus Mariota in 2015.ddddddddddddBut it was moves the Titans made last offseason that helped put Mariota in the position hes in today -- a half-game out of first place with the leagues third-best rushing attack and just 18 sacks allowed after giving up a league-high 54 last year.Tennessee signed free agent center Ben Jones, used the No. 8 pick on tackle Jack Conklin and traded receiver Dorial Green-Beckham to Philadelphia for tackle Dennis Kelly. None of these moves made headlines the way Mariotas selection did in 2015.But the Titans depth on the offensive line has made a difference.Getting (Kelly) with that trade was as big a trade as we had this year, coach Mike Mularkey said.Heading into Sundays game against Miami, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked about the Dolphins shuffled offensive line -- three starters have missed all or part of the last two games -- and immediately reflected on his own teams problems.We were ... cobbling together an offensive line and guys were playing out of position. Its very challenging, Harbaugh said. The really great offensive line coaches prepare for that.The Ravens started the same offensive line for the first three games of the season and went 3-0. Injuries set in, and Baltimore lost four straight -- part of a stretch of eight straight games in which they started a different line combination. They head into Sundays game having won three of four, as the idea of not knowing who theyre going to line up next to has become less jarring.Its definitely easier to have someone youve been playing with because you build chemistry over a period of time, said Ronnie Stanley, the Ravens first-round pick this season, who missed four games earlier this season with a foot injury.And yet, sometimes chemistry isnt all its cracked up to be. The Bengals have started the same offensive line all 11 weeks this season. But Cincinnati has given up 32 sacks -- fourth most in the league -- and is on pace for its worst rushing attack since 2010. Last week against Baltimore, four of Andy Daltons final eight passes were batted down at the line and Cincinnati fell to 3-7-1.---AP Sports Writers Michael Marot in Indianapolis, Steven Wine in Miami, Teresa Walker in Nashville, Bob Baum in Phoenix, Joe Kay in Cincinnati and David Ginsburg in Baltimore contributed to this report. ' ' '