A perfect, but wet, day for scoring
Five golfers take advantage of soft course to shoot 65 on long day at the Abbey
It looks like a different course. Yes, this is the third straight year that the RBC Canadian Open has been held at Glen Abbey Golf Club. (And it could possibly be among the last given the course owner’s plan to redevelop the site as a residential community).
But a year after a parched Glen Abbey played so hard and fast that bighitting pros were reaching the greenfronting pond from the tee of the par-five, 524-yard 18th hole, a relatively cool and wet southern Ontario summer has left the visiting PGA Tour players with a lusher, softer are- na. In other words: prime scoring conditions.
“It’s gettable. It’s about as gettable as I’ve seen this golf course, but it’s in great shape,” said Hudson Swafford. “You didn’t have to be quite as cautious as you normally do around here.”
Swafford’s opening-round 65 put him among a quintet of tournament leaders that also included Brandon Hagy, Kevin Chappell, Matt Every and Ollie Schiederjans. Chappell, Every and Schniederjans played among the afternoon groups that sat through a near-two-hour rain delay that eventually led to first-round play being suspended due to darkness. Mackenzie Hughes, Thursday’s top Canadian, shot a morning-group 67 to sit two shots back of the lead.
“You’ve got the best players in the world with some soft greens,” Swaf- ford said. “It doesn’t matter how (difficult) the golf course is. I feel like guys are going to come out and make birdies. When it firms up like this place normally does, two-under is a good score around here.”
Two-under par wasn’t anything to brag about on Thursday. But despite the receptive greens, most of the 17 Canadians in the field failed to make hay. Hughes, who won on the PGA Tour back in November, was an exception. Most of the rest of the domestic entries will begin Friday close to the projected cut line.
Perhaps fans can focus on cheering for Bubba Watson, who on Thursday declared himself “part Canadian, since I married a Canadian.” That’d be Angie Watson (nee Ball), a former University of Georgia and WNBA basketball player, who hails from the GTA.
“The rough’s not too high,” said Bubba Watson, who shot a six-under 66. “So it’s a little bit easier than British Open rough.”
While British Open champion Jordan Spieth isn’t in the field this week, Spieth’s close friend Smylie Kaufman provided Thursday’s early pyrotechnics, going five-under par through his first five holes before a double-bogey at the par-three seventh cooled his run. Kaufman, who finished with a 66, couldn’t avoid an obligatory question about his longtime pal. While Kaufman didn’t play at Royal Birkdale, he said he’s been keeping in touch during Spieth’s ensuing victory lap.
“It doesn’t seem like the Claret Jug has left him since he’s left the Open,” Kaufman said. “He’s definitely enjoying it. Looks like he’s staying hydrated out of the Claret Jug, as well.”