Victoria’s Cory Renfrew vaults into ATB Financial lead after shooting 64
Coming from Victoria, B.C., Cory Renfrew can appreciate the forgiving ways of the thin Rocky Mountain air.
And, turns out, it worked out in his favour.
Renfrew shot a 64 on Friday at Cochrane’s Links of Glen Eagles and, after two days of Mackenzie Tour PGA TOUR Canada tournament play, jumped into the lead at the ATB Financial Classic with 11-under.
“The ball obviously flies forever here,” said the member of Victoria’s Cordova Bay Golf Course. “It’s just about picking good lines and adjusting for how far the ball is going to go. The greens are great, the course is in great shape.
“I’m just looking forward to the weekend.”
Renfrew birdied holes 17 and 18 — which was, because he started on the back nine, near the beginning of his round — and it gave him a boost.
“I felt comfortable after that,” said the 29-year-old who studied at University of British Columbia and calls Scottsdale, Ariz., home in the winters.
“I drove the green on 17 and just kind of rolled from there.
“There’s a ton of good players out here. I’m just happy to be at the top and to be playing well.”
Renfrew has been in this position before but never so early in a Mackenzie Tour event. In 2012 — the same year he captured the Syncrude Boreal Open in Fort McMurray — he had a 54-hole lead in the Bayview Place Island Savings Open in Victoria.
So, having some experience with maintaining a lead, consistency is key heading into the weekend.
“Hopefully, I’ll just do most of the same sort of things,” he said.
“Picking good lines off the tees and swinging well. Me and my caddy are having fun out there so we’ll see what happens.”
Michael Gligic, the 2012 winner of the ATB Financial Classic, is also another Canadian in contention after Friday’s round.
However, it didn’t look that way at the beginning of his round.
The 25-year-old made par on his first hole, had a bogey on the second, then made par the next six. Thankfully for him, four birdies the rest of the way was enough qualify him for the weekend.
“I knew I was playing well enough where I could make up for it,” he said. “I think the front-nine is a bit easier so I knew I had that coming back … and that was about it for the day. Pretty uneventful but I’m pretty proud of myself. I didn’t really hit the ball very well, I didn’t drive the ball very well.”
His own personal statistics card showed him hitting 12 greens, four fairways, and 27 putts.
“With that, I guess shooting 3-under par and still being in contention is pretty good,” Gligic said with a grin.
Gligic’s 67 on Friday has him tied fourth with 9-under.
“It is nice to play the weekend and, hopefully, I can have a couple good days and maybe be in contention Sunday,” he said.
Americans Daniel Miernicki, Jonathan Khan, and Julien Brun of France are in a three-way tie for second at 10-under with 130 through 36 holes.
And of all leaders, Khan took the biggest jump of the three.
The 26-year-old from Tuscon, Ariz., turned a consistent round of golf at Glen Eagles into a nearperfect one and wound up tying the course record by shooting a 62.
“I didn’t put myself in any bad spots,” Khan said.
“No bogeys, eight birdies. Made some long putts early and I think that got my putter going. It was kind of spread out. I swear, every three holes, I just made birdie so it was good.”
Khan, originally listed as an alternate, found out Sunday that he would be entered in the tournament.
“I was feeling pretty good about my game and I was excited,” he said. “I actually just looked at the course and it looked like a cool course. Even when I played the practice round, it looked like a good course that fits my game.”
The top-60 golfers made the cut out of 156 entered in the tournament and advance to the final two days (Saturday and Sunday) for a shot at the $31,500 top prize.