OAKVILLE, Canada: Brendan Steele carded eight birdies in a seven-under-par 65 yesterday to seize the first-round lead in the US PGA Tour’s Canadian Open.
The 30-year-old Californian needed just 28 putts on the par-72 Glen Abbey course, and held a one-stroke lead over Australian Scott Gardiner and Americans Scott Brown and Matt Kuchar.
“Overall, it was a good day,” said Steele, who made the most of perfect early scoring conditions as he hit nine of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation.
“I hit a lot of good shots and was able to hole a lot of putts. I also didn’t miss many greens or hit many shots off line, and I was able to roll a few putts in,” added Steele, who claimed his only US PGA Tour title to date at San Antonio in 2011.
Kuchar’s round included an eagle at the par-five 18th. After making the turn at five-under, Kuchar added back-to-back birdie, but he ran into trouble at the par-four sixth.
“Six is a hard hole,” Kuchar said. “The rough can be really penalizing. I hit my drive into the left rough. I had a good lie and was able to get it to the green, but I caught a flier and it ran through the green and into the crowd, into some trampled down, matted-down rough, which is difficult in figuring out the grain and how the ball is going to come out,” he said yesterday.AFP
