American Kris Blanks has fired a 3-under-par 67 to set the pace at the Canadian Open, grabbing a first round lead for the second time in three events.
Blanks also found himself perched atop the leaderboard after the first day at the John Deere Classic two weeks ago and the Puerto Rico Open last year but so far the 38-year-old journeyman has been unable to translate his flashy starts into a strong finish and a first PGA Tour win.
Helped by an eagle at the par-five seventh at the Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club, Blanks battled to a one shot advantage over a chasing pack of 11 players, including South African Ernie Els (68) and Matt McQuillian, who is among the 17 Canadians in the field bidding to become the first home grown winner of the national championship since Pat Fletcher in 1954.
"It was that way the same way at John Deere ... so I will kind of draw on some of the stuff that happened in the following rounds after that," Blanks told reporters. "But it's a little different this week.
"I don't necessarily feel like I've got to shoot six-or-seven under tomorrow like I did at John Deere.
"I'm just going to try to stick to my game plan, get a good night's sleep and get after it tomorrow."
Still, it is unlikely to be a restful night for Blanks with another pack of nine golfers, led by American young guns Anthony Kim and Rickie Fowler, lurking a shot further adrift at 1-under and ready to pounce.
American Sean O'Hair had been poised to snatch the lead from Blanks getting to 4-under with four to play only to bogey his final three holes to join the group on 69.
The spectacular tree-lined Shaughnessy layout bared its teeth as the field struggled to get under par in near ideal conditions.
Tough course
The last time the Canadian Open was staged on the par-70 layout in 2005 it played as the most difficult non-major event on the PGA Tour and may hold that distinction again this year.
"Obviously I am very pleased with that, this is a very tough golf course," Els told reporters. "All and all just a solid round of golf.
"This golf course is very much like a US Open. It's Canada's national open and this is the way national opens should be played. They should be played as tough as possible."
After missing the cut at the British Open, Donald looked as if he had brought his major hangover with him to Canada.
Playing the back nine first, Donald got his round off to a disastrous start with double-bogeys on two of his opening four holes.
But then the Briton suddenly began to live up to his top ranking picking up back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 before reeling off three consecutive from the fifth to finish at level par 70 alongside crowd favourite John Daly.
Masters champion Charl Schwartzel got his day off to rocky start going 3-over on the front nine but the South African responded with an error free finish picking up a pair of birdies, including one at the last to finish on 1-over 71.
Jose Maria Olazabal's first visit to the Canadian Open will not provide many pleasant memories as the Spaniard laboured to a 4-over 74 alongside defending champion Carl Pettersson of Sweden, twice Canadian champion Jim Furyk and home favourite 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir.
Reuters
Tags: golf, sport, canada, united-states First posted July 22, 2011 12:54:33
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