Birdie gives defending champ a chance to play another Day
Even after taking a penalty stroke, world No. 1 nails a clutch shot
Jason Day may have saved himself from himself.
And in the process, he gave himself a chance to defend his RBC Canadian Open title.
The world No. 1 golfer, on the knife edge of missing the cut heading to the par-5 18th hole, needed to be a little conservative if he wanted to ensure weekend tee times.
Instead, he made the headscratching decision to aggressively pound his driver down a fairway that has been hardened by months of drought-like conditions.
Yeah, driver is not a bad play for mere mortals. But Day ripped off a 390-plus yard drive that, naturally, found the pond that fronts the 18th green.
So game over, right? Surely, Day couldn’t get up and down?
Uh, better than that. He took a penalty stroke, snapped his wedge approach onto the green, then drained a birdie putt — yes, a birdie putt — to put some lipstick on that ugly sow of a 76.
“I didn’t even read the putt,” Day said. “I think I was more peeved with how I played over the last two days.”
The clutch shot means the Aussie, who is plus-1 for the tourna- ment, will stick around for the final two days. The cut was set at plus-2.
“I’ve got to play really, really good golf over the weekend to even have a sniff at catching (the leaders),” he said. “I’m going to go out there and try to enjoy myself.”
STILL IN THE MIX
Canadian Adam Hadwin may have been written off after finishing six shots off the pace in Round 1.
But the 28-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., stayed alive with a 2-under 70 his second time around the Glen Abbey track, even though he went out in the afternoon when it got downright windy.
“It was much better than (Thursday),” Hadwin said. “I hit it more solid. A little scrambly, though, despite hitting it solid. Other than the three-putt on 17, a pretty good round.”
Hadwin carded five birdies with one bogey and one double bogey.
GOTTA HAND IT TO THE OLD FELLA
Vijay Singh, 53 years old and well past his prime on the PGA Tour, turned back the clock Friday to get himself into contention for his second Canadian Open title.
Singh followed up an even-par 72 in his opening round with a 3-under 69 to easily qualify for the weekend. The big Fijian, winner of three majors, is just four shots off the lead.
A lot of time has passed since Singh won here — you might recall his playoff victory over Canada’s Mike Weir — and it’s been eight years since he won on Tour. He likely won’t climb the leaderboard this weekend, but it was still nice to see a flash of the old Vijay Singh.
MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH
Canadian Corey Conners, a qualifier Monday for the Open, is in line to earn a paycheque.
A double bogey on No 9, his 18th hole of the day, almost forced the Listowel, Ont., native to change his weekend plans.
Conners looked as if he would make the cut after recording his fourth birdie of the day with five holes left, getting to 3-under, but a flub on No. 9 left him just outside the cut line.
He wound up slipping into the field for the weekend, though.
Conners, who is third on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica money list this year, believes he isn’t out of his element here.
“Definitely I feel like I belong out there,” he said. “It’s a different feeling playing out here in front of all the fans and stuff. But, yeah, I’ve definitely enjoyed myself and I think I can compete out here, for sure.
“I had a good experience and I’ll learn from the mistakes I made.”
GRAEME LEFT GRUMBLING
Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell did plenty of talking to himself during an awful second round.
McDowell has probably been doing that a lot lately. It’s been a tough stretch for the former U.S. Open champ, with a tie for ninth at the Players Championship his best finish since the end of February.
In his previous 10 events, he missed the cut five times and carded sub-70 rounds just twice. Yikes.
That trend didn’t change Friday as McDowell again failed to qualify for the weekend, finishing at plus-7 after a round of 76.
MAKING A LIST
Co- leader Luke List doesn’t sound intimidated by the prospect of playing with Dustin Johnson Saturday.
List and Johnson will head out as the final pairing after posting identical 71s Friday.
“If I can just forget about what everybody else is doing and stay in my mindset … I’ve had a really good frame of mind the last couple of days,” List said.
“If I can keep it up, I will be happy with the way I finish.”