HAMILTON – Sean O’Hair has barely played any events on the PGA Tour this season, took a bunch of weeks off from the Korn Ferry Tour due to a bout of mono, was the last guy in the field of the RBC Canadian Open – arriving Wednesday due to weather delays in his native Texas – and didn’t play a practice round.
He shot a 7-under 63 Thursday and is tied for the lead after the morning wave.
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“I was kind of in a fog today because I was just so tired,” O’Hair said, “but it worked out.”
O’Hair, who won the Canadian Open in 2011 and finished third at Hamilton Golf and Country Club in 2006, made five birdies and an eagle in the opening round. His 63 tied his low round on the PGA Tour, which first happened 10 years ago in Las Vegas.
O’Hair said he is the kind of guy who likes to be prepared – but this week he had no option.
“I think when you don’t really have an option and you’re kind of making a big deal about it, it almost hurts you, so I kind of just said, ‘Look, I don’t really expect a whole lot today,’ I haven’t really been playing that great either, so to come out here and shoot the score I did today was definitely kind of a shocker for me,” O’Hair said. “Ride it out I guess as long as I can.”
O’Hair is tied for the lead with Sam Burns, ranked 27th in the world. Burns is a new dad, with he and wife Caroline welcoming a son, Bear, just a few weeks ago.
“I haven’t gotten up at 2 a.m. much in the past to change a diaper, so doing that a lot now,” Burns said with a smile.
Burns, who started on the back nine, made eagle on both of the par-5s at Hamilton after starting his day birding two of his first three holes. Burns was first in strokes gained: off the tee and strokes gained: tee to green through the morning wave.
He said with the greens being so receptive after all the rain earlier in the week, it was a prime day for scoring.
“It makes a big difference on par 5s when you have a long iron or a wood coming in there to be able to stop the ball pretty quick. That makes a huge difference,” Burns said. “So, I think that was really the difference in my round today. Making two eagles kind of kick-started me and it was overall a solid round.”
Firmly in the rearview mirror sits Rory McIlroy after a 4-under-par 66, tied with Ryan Fox for third through the morning.
McIlroy admitted with a laugh on the broadcast that after two glasses of wine at dinner Wednesday night to celebrate his caddie Harry Diamond’s 40th birthday he was a little foggy for his 7:40 a.m. ET tee time. He also hadn’t yet seen the back nine at all this week – until he teed it up in the first round. He made nine pars to start the day before knocking his drive on the par-1st 356 yards and rolling in the birdie.
McIlroy added circles on his scorecard on Nos. 5, 7, and 8 before just missing a 16-footer for a closing birdie on No. 9.
McIlroy made a 66 look extremely easy – save for one laugh-out-loud moment when he hit it into the hospitality tent on No. 17.
“Some guy yelled out, ‘You need a wristband to get in here.’ So that was pretty funny,” McIlroy said. “Four birdies (on the front nine), no bogeys there was a good day’s work.”
McIlroy, who won the Canadian Open in 2019 at Hamilton, is 65th on the season in strokes gained: putting, but he told Sportsnet earlier in the week that the putting held him back from having a good result at the PGA Championship, his previous event on the PGA Tour before coming to Canada. Through the first round he’s 32nd in that stat but his confidence has been buoyed by the flatstick.
“I felt like I got some good practice on the front side there just trying to save par the whole time, getting a lot of practice on my 6-footers. It was good,” McIlroy said with a smile. “Felt like I putted really, really nice. Hopefully I can keep that going the next few days.”
Another nice putting performance from Mike Weir meant it was throwback Thursday at the RBC Canadian Open, with Weir, 54, the low Canadian through the morning after a 2-under start.
Weir made six birdies on the day and could have been better had he not missed a 9-foot birdie on his final hole and an 8-foot par saver on No. 6. Still, the veteran sits ninth in strokes gained: putting and third in strokes gained: approach the green.
“I have belief in myself, and I feel like I still have the tools to compete when things are on,” Weir said of his turn-back-the-clock performance. “The last few years I just have not been putting very well. I’m hoping this change really helps and spurs me on to some good golf here going forward. I just love the game. I love to practice. I love to compete.”
Defending champion Nick Taylor – who played alongside McIlroy and Taylor Pendrith, who shot a 1-under 69, in the first round – struggled to a 2-over 72.
Although it was a disappointing start, he said with a smile there was one positive.
“I guess I beat (last year’s first-round score) by three, so I got that going for me,” Taylor said. “Obviously not out of it. I know that personally. But would have liked to have got off to a better start, obviously. Again, the score is out there. The greens are soft. They’re receptive. Just need to be a little sharper.”