Hughes off to hot start at Canadian Open

Mackenzie Hughes finally feels like he belongs — and he posted a score during the opening round of the RBC Canadian Open on Thursday to prove it.

Starting off his day on the 10th tee, the Dundas, Ont., native carded a 5-under 67, which included six birdies and a bogey, to stay right in the thick of things at the 108th running of our national open and announce to everyone that the Canadians are to be taken seriously.

“You can’t win it on Thursday, but you can lose it on Thursday,” said Hughes, who sits 26th in the FedExCup Standings.

“I put myself in a pretty good spot. I know that the scores are out there today and someone might go out and shoot 7- or 8-under, but it’s a four-round tournament and I’m off to a great start.”

He’s right, somebody did. Americans Hudson Swafford and Brandon Hagy both carded 65s in the wet morning conditions that made Glenn Abbey ripe for the picking. And after an afternoon weather delay, another trio of Americans — Kevin Chappell, Matt Every, and Ollie Schniederjans — added their names to the top of the leaderboard with 65s of their own.

“It’s gettable,” Swafford said of the house that Jack Nicklaus built. “It’s about as gettable as I’ve seen this golf course. You don’t have to worry about runouts off the tee. Balls weren’t running through the greens like they normally do. But it’s in great shape. The greens are perfect, so you can make some putts.”

Behind the four Americans were a group of 10 players at 6-under, including two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson and veteran K.J. Choi.

Hughes was in another group of 14 players in the clubhouse at 5-under, including Americans Keegan Bradley and J.B. Holmes. Another stroke back at 4-under was Weyburn, Sask.’s Graham DeLaet.