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SASKATOON — Brad Jacobs will be in the driver’s seat for Reid Carruthers’ team this week during the WFG Masters.
Jacobs will move up to skip and throw last rocks for the Winnipeg-based club while Carruthers will slide over to play third.
Carruthers called it a team decision as they’re looking to get their consistency up.
“The idea is we make the switch and hopefully it’s the best lineup that we’ve thrown out there,” Carruthers said following Monday’s pre-event practice. “Hopefully we continue to grow in the direction we can go by doing this.”
Jacobs, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., previously skipped his own squad and captured Olympic and Brier championships plus seven Grand Slam of Curling titles.
After taking a step back from competitive curling in 2022, Jacobs joined Team Carruthers midway through last season for Grand Slam of Curling events when they parted ways with third Jason Gunnlaugson. He came on board full-time at third beginning this season.
Team Carruthers, which also includes second Derek Samagalski and lead Connor Njegovan, won the PointsBet Invitational in September but has yet to find playoff success elsewhere on tour, particularly at the Grand Slams. The crew went winless at 0-4 through last month’s KIOTI National.
“We’ve had an up-and-down season,” said Carruthers, whose team is currently ranked 16th in the world. “We’ve had some highs and obviously had some lows. With Brad’s skills set being an Olympic champ, Brier champ at the skip position and I’ve played third before, it’s just one of those things with our lineup that we knew we had the opportunity to go and do that. Trying to spark the offence there, really.”
“We’ve got two guys who have played skip before, so we’re going to try something different.”
The WFG Masters starts Tuesday morning at Merlis Belsher Place. Carruthers begins play in the second draw at 11:30 a.m. local time (12:30 p.m. ET) against reigning WFG Masters champion Joël Retornaz, whose team has also won back-to-back Grand Slam men’s titles to start the season.
TEAM MOUAT SHORT-HANDED
Bruce Mouat’s Scottish squad will be playing as a trio during the WFG Masters.
The team announced Monday on social media that third Grant Hardie is recovering from minor surgery and it’ll just be Mouat, second Bobby Lammie and lead Hammy McMillan Jr. hitting the ice this week.
Mouat, who is ranked third in the world, captured a fourth career gold medal in the European Championships last month on home ice in Aberdeen.
His team’s first game at the WFG Masters is also during the second draw against Kevin Koe’s Calgary-based club.
NOTES
The WFG Masters is the third Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … Teams play four round-robin games with the top eight in both divisions advancing to Saturday’s quarterfinals. If necessary, tiebreakers will be played Saturday morning to determine the final playoff spots. … The semifinals are also scheduled for Saturday with both finals on tap Sunday.
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