MONTREAL: Canadian amateur Taylor Pendrith was just one shot behind leaders Tim Petrovic and Michael Putnam Thursday after the first round of the US PGA Tour’s Canadian Open.
Pendrith birdied the final hole at Royal Montreal Golf Club to join American Kyle Stanley in third place on five-under 65 -- and put himself at the head of a Canadian contingent trying to break a 60-year title drought in their home open championship.
The 23-year-old had earlier rolled in a 29-foot birdie putt on the par-three 13th and nearly holed an even longer attempt at 17.
Petrovic posted three birdies on the trot from the second hole and added another on the seventh before eagling the par-five 12th. His bogey-free 64 was a strong start to a bid for a second career PGA Tour title.
Putnam, seeking his first PGA Tour crown, also shot a 64 without a bogey.
He opened at the 10th tee and birdied 12 and 17, then picked up birdies at the second, third, fifth and eighth coming in.
Stanley also teed off on 10 and made five birdies in his first nine holes.
He gave back a stroke at the third, but birdied the sixth to finish the day one off the pace.
A big group on four-under 66 included former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, Australians Robert Allenby and Greg Chalmers and South Korean Charlie Wi.
Jim Furyk, coming off a fourth-place finish at the British Open, and Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano were in another big bunch on three-under par 67.
Putnam’s 64 was the lowest round of his PGA Tour career.
“Obviously it was playing easy,” he said of Royal Montreal’s Blue Course.
“I hit a lot of fairways and I hit a lot of greens. It got windy there this afternoon and it was tough golfing but somehow I was able to keep it in the fairway and take advantage of the soft greens, get a couple shots close and make a couple of five-to-10 foot putts,” he said.
Petrovic, who got into the field only after the withdrawal of Benjamin Alvarado, made the most of his opportunity.
“I really didn’t set my expectations high because I got in late,” he said.
AFP
