Garrigus on fire early at Canadian Open
OAKVILLE, ONT. • Robert Garrigus seems to run either hot or cold at the RBC Canadian Open.
He has missed four of the last six cuts, but also finished tied for fifth last year, when he matched a course-record 62 in the third round, and was runner-up in 2012.
On a humid, overcast Thursday at Glen Abbey that eventually gave way to weather dangerous enough to have play suspended for more than two hours, Garrigus was running pretty hot. So hot, in fact, the American golfer mentioned the number 59 in his post-round interview.
Garrigus hit the ground running at 7:20 a.m., putting together a string of birdies on holes two through six at the 7,253-yard, par-72 Jack Nicklaus-designed course for a front-nine 30. He continued his strong play on the back side with another blemish-free card that included four more birdies.
It all added up to a firstround 9-under-par 63 and the clubhouse lead when play was suspended.
“There could have been a 59 watch out there if a couple putts didn’t lip out,” Garrigus said with a bit of a chuckle. “I lipped out on 10, I had a lip-out on 17 there.
“Got lucky on the par-5 13th, hit it right in the middle of the water and it hit a rock and bounced over the thing and I made birdie. I count those as two on the plus side. So that was a lot of fun today.”
Instead, it turned into a storm watch as the Greater Toronto Area was pelted with hail, though nothing more dangerous than heavy rain came down at Glen Abbey.
“It’s great. I love this place. I’ve always played well in Canada,” Garrigus said after his round, but before the first bout of heavy rain. “There’s a lot of good vibes here. And the golf course is absolutely pure. I mean, I was walking on the fairway on No. 8 and it just felt like you were walking on carpet and you get up on the green and it’s like grass. The conditions are absolutely perfect. The fans are amazing here … They’ve always cheered for me, it’s pretty cool.”
A strong performance here would go a long way toward Garrigus securing full exempt status for next season.
“I prayed a lot this week, I’ll tell you that much,” said Garrigus, who sits at 131st in the FedEx Cup standings. “There was a lot of prayers for my family, just to give me peace and calm, just to come out and not worry about it, not worry about where I am. I was in the same exact place (last year), 131, and I ended up finishing fifth and getting my card. If I keep going like I am, it should be all right.”
It didn’t take long to figure out which Glen Abbey the players would be facing Thursday. And it wasn’t the one on which Jhonattan Vegas won on in 2016, when he got to 12 under. It was more like last year’s course on which Vegas, the twotime defending champion, fired 8 under par on the final day to get to 21 under for the tournament.
Several players came close to matching Garrigus, while others were forced to wrap up their first rounds Friday because of the weather delay.
Fellow American Adam Schenk had 10 birdies, including three on his final three holes, and two bogeys en route to an 8-under 64 and solo second place.
Compatriot Chris Stroud was alone in third at 7 under, while a handful of players, including European Ryder Cup hopeful Ian Poulter, were at 6 under.
World No. 11 Tommy Fleetwood was making a charge at 5 under with eagles at the par-5 13th and 16th and birdies sandwiched in between, but the horn blew at 8:04 p.m. to stop play for the day when he was striding down the 17th fairway with playing partners Vegas and Brooks Koepka, the two-time defending U.S. Open champion. Several other wellknown players, including Sergio Garcia and last year’s runner-up Charley Hoffman, were also on the course.
David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., who doesn’t even have fully exempt status on the PGA Tour this year, and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., led the charge for the Canadians at 4 under par. Taylor got to the number when he sunk a six-footer for birdie on the 18th green just before the horn blew.
“I played great all day. I gave myself tons of chances,” said Hearn, who sits at 443rd in the world and 148th in the FedEx Cup standings. “Overall, I gave myself lots of good chances for birdie. I would like to have been a couple more on today’s round, but overall very happy with the way I hit it today.”
Hearn’s only blemish came on the par-3 seventh, known here as the hockey hole because of the boards set up around the tee box and the marshals who are dressed like hockey referees.
Monday qualifier Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., fired a 3-under 69.
“It was a pretty good day,” he said. “A little nervy on the first tee, but other than that I was able to settle in really well today and was able to make a couple of putts.”