Canadians keep each other loose at U.S. Open
All four Canucks feeling optimistic after shrugging off rough starts at Winged Foot
The venue was Winged Foot and the event was the U.S. Open, but at tee time on Thursday, it looked more like a Canadian Open.
Beginning the year's second major on the 10th tee at 8:29 a.m. were Canucks Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Adam Hadwin.
“We had fun out there,” Conners said. “We all sort of struggled at times, but it was great and a very comfortable pairing for all three of us. I definitely was more relaxed than I have been in other major championships.”
All three players agreed the all-Canadian pairing loosened them up as they began a pressure packed major championship, where jokes can be hard to come by.
“It took some of the tension out of the day,” Hadwin said. “We were walking down the fairway and talking about Mac's 9-wood, which he hit great today. I might have to get one in my bag.”
Conners finished the day as the low man in the group after recording a birdie on his final hole for a 1-over par 71.
It's been said that you can win a U.S. Open by making pars, but Conners found only two of them on his second nine holes, carding a colourful scorecard that featured four bogeys and three birdies. His day was capped off with a seven-foot putt for a 4 on the par-5 ninth hole.
“Lunch tasted a lot better after making a birdie there,” Conners told Postmedia after his round. “All in all it was a decent day, but I definitely could have been lower. Some mistakes I'd like to have back, but nice to finish the way I did.”
Hadwin and Hughes shot matching 2-over par 72s to head into the second round one stroke behind Conners. Hadwin got off to a rough start with a bogey and a double bogey over his first five holes, before making a birdie on the eighth hole — his second last of the day — to salvage a 72.
“This is probably the easiest the course is going to play and it would have been nice to take advantage,” Hadwin said. “I'm not satisfied, but I'm OK with the day.”
Hughes, fresh off a Tour Championship appearance, got off to an even rockier start with two double bogeys in a four-hole stretch on his opening nine. But the native of Hamilton made three birdies on his second nine, including a 28-footer at the par-4 sixth hole to fight back to a respectable result.
“It was a tough start, but it was nice to rebound and finish with some positive momentum,” Hughes said. “I had a hard time hitting fairways out of the gate, but I got better on my second nine.”
Big-hitting Taylor Pendrith, the fourth Canadian in the field, was having a slow start to his first major championship until some late-round fireworks saved the day. With four bogeys and no birdies on his scorecard he rolled in a 16-foot putt on the eighth hole (his second last of the day) to get to 3-over par. The bomber from Richmond Hill, Ont. then hit a 361-yard drive at the par-5 ninth and capped off his round with a 20-foot eagle putt to finish at 1-over par, tied with Conners for low Canadian. Driver and a six iron from 566 yards? O Canada!
Conners had never been to Winged Foot and spent some time before the tournament checking out the famed New
York course on YouTube to try to get some clues as to what was in store. When he arrived on Sunday and took a look at the famously difficult course, he liked what he saw. The golfer from Listowel, Ont., is a fan of traditional tree-lined parkland courses and thought the tight fairways and demanding tee shots would suit his game well. In the first round, the 28-yearold Canadian hit just seven of 14 fairways, well short of the 68 per cent fairway accuracy he had last season on the PGA Tour.
“Fairways are definitely hard to hit out here,” Conners said. “With the softness I was trying to play aggressively, because I thought that even if I did hit drives in the rough, I'd still have a chance to hit it on the green, so I tried to hit a lot of drivers.”
World No. 3 Justin Thomas fired his lowest first-round score in a major to grab the lead on Thursday, while Tiger Woods was well back after a 3-over 73.
Thomas, who has one top-10 finish in five U.S. Open starts and missed the cut last year at Pebble Beach, drained a 24-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a 5-underpar 65.
That left Thomas, who this week called Winged Foot one of his all-time favourite courses, one shot clear of Ryder Cup teammate Patrick Reed — whose round was highlighted by a holein-one on the par-three seventh — Matthew Wolff and Belgium's Thomas Pieters. Sitting two behind after 66s are Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen.
With fans, and even golfers, expecting a massacre at Winged Foot, where only one winner in five U.S. Opens has shot under par for the week, scores on Thursday were surprisingly low.
“Starting the day I would have said no it's not possible, but after playing and getting into the round, the conditions were pretty friendly,” Conners said. “Perfect comfortable temperature, where it's warm enough that the ball is still flying normal distances. The wind wasn't really blowing at all to affect shots. After playing a couple holes, you could certainly see how someone could get it going.”
This is, however, a U.S. Open at Winged Foot, so players aren't expecting the good times to last.
“I'm guessing maybe they're going to ease into the week, but I'm sure they'll get it back to even (par) by Sunday,” Hughes said.
If the USGA does turn up the heat at Winged Foot over the next three days, Conners sounds ready for the challenge.
“I still love how Winged Foot sets up for me,” he said. “I do think it will start to firm up a little bit, and I'll like that even more. I've got to tidy up some of the mistakes and I'll be right there.”
The Canadian trio begins Round 2 at 1:49 p.m. ET, while Pendrith will be in the first group of the day at 6:50 a.m. on Friday.
— with files from Reuters jmccarthy@postmedia.
com