Parziale moves into Ouimet lead
Two weeks after winning the Massachusetts Amateur championship, Matt Parziale sits atop the leaderboard of the 50th Francis Ouimet Memorial Tournament.
The Brockton native, who won the Ouimet in 2009 and 2013, bettered his 1-under 71 at Brae Burn Country Club on Wednesday with a day-low score of 5-under 66 yesterday at The Country Club in Brookline.
Parziale holds a 1-stroke lead over Bobby Leopold of Coventry, R.I., and a 2-stroke advantage over Billy Walthouse (from Longmeadow CC), Dylan Siebenaler and fellow Thorny Lea member John Hadges heading into today’s final round.
“I felt like it wasn’t a great day (Wednesday), but I was able to get through it OK,” said Parziale. “(Yesterday) after the first hole everything went well.”
After a bogey on the first hole, Parziale birdied the second and the sixth, and added birdies on the 10th, 11th, 13th and 15th holes.
“I felt good and had good numbers and was able to be aggressive which is key,” said Parziale. “It’s not that I know how to get good numbers, but I got lucky to get good numbers.”
After the round, the starting field was reduced to the low 40 scorers. Those competitors — along with the low nine scorers from the Lowery Division — and the six Women’s Division competitors will compete in a final round at Woodland Golf Club in Newton today.
Kuchar out of sorts
Matt Kuchar fought dizzy spells in the first round of the RBC Canadian Open in Oakville, Ontario, four days after finishing second behind Jordan Spieth in the British Open.
The 39-year-old American became dizzy marking a ball and sought medical attention during the morning round at Glen Abbey. After playing the first 11 holes in 4 under, he made a double bogey on the par-4 third and bogeyed the par-4 eighth en route to a 1-under 71.
Kuchar was 6 strokes behind leaders Kevin Chappell, Matt Every, Hudson Swafford, Brandon Hagy and Ollie Schniederjans in the round that was suspended because of darkness after afternoon play was interrupted for nearly two hours by weather. Defending champion Jhonattan Vegas, Vijay Singh, Jim Herman, Peter Malnati and Martin Flores matched Kuchar’s playing partner Bubba Watson at 66. Topranked Dustin Johnson had a 67, thanks to an eagle on the par-5 13th to go with six birdies and three bogeys.
Webb fires to front
Hall of Famer Karrie Webb shot a 7-under 65 in cold and windy conditions to take a 1-stroke lead over Cristie Kerr in the Ladies Scottish Open in Irvine, Scotland.
Webb played the final 10 holes in 7 under at Dundonald Links. The 42-yearold Australian star birdied the par-4 ninth, made five straight birdies on Nos. 11-15 and added another birdie on the par-5 18th.
Kerr closed with a birdie on the No. 9 in her bogeyfree round in the event sanctioned by the LPGA Tour for the first time. It has been part of the Ladies European Tour since 1986. Fellow major champions Stacy Lewis and Inbee Park were tied for third at 69 along with Sei Young Kim, Lina Boqvist and Pornanong Phatlum. ANA Inspiration winner So Yeon Ryu had a 71, and Michelle Wie shot 72.
Langer in position
Bernhard Langer shot a 2-under 69 in wind and rain at Royal Porthcawl in Bridgend, Wales, to take the first-round lead in the Senior British Open.
The 59-year-old German star had five birdies and three bogeys for a 1-stroke lead over 64-year-old Carl Mason of England and Mauricio Molina of Argentina. Langer has nine senior major titles, and won by 13 strokes the last time the tournament was held on the south Wales course, finishing at 18 under in 2014. Langer also won the 2010 event at Carnoustie. Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie was 2 strokes at 71 back along eight others, including Americans Tom Lehman, Billy Mayfair, Tom Pernice Jr. and Billy Andrade. Tom Watson and John Daly topped the group at 72. . . .
American Julian Suri birdied five of the last eight holes to join Richard McEvoy of England for a share of the lead at 6-under 66 in the opening round of the European Open in Hamburg, Germany. Defending champion Alexander Levy was among four tied at 5-under, alongside Chris Paisley, Stuart Manley and 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.