– Jack Nicklaus was saying last week, when referring to the tough demands of his tournament, the Memorial, that there are already many tournaments with lots of birdies and that it’s okay to have some where par (and even bogey) can be good. One of those festive and exuberant weeks could perfectly be this RBC Canadian Open at a new venue, the North Course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. We will have to see how the playing conditions evolve, which today have been magnificent, but the first round of the Canadian Open has left us with two leaders, the Dane Thorbjorn Olesen (-9) and the Chilean Cristóbal del Solar (-9), both signing scorecards of 61 strokes.
– Olesen has been obtaining PGA Tour playing rights through the DP World Tour for two consecutive seasons. Last year he went almost unnoticed on the other side of the Atlantic, but this season he seems more in tune. Moreover, this great player should never be overlooked in a Ryder year. He’s up there (14th in the European team qualifying ranking) and this week, in Canada, he could get even closer and get on Luke Donald’s radar, who surely wouldn’t mind having him in the squad.
– Del Solar, let’s not forget, is also known as Mr. 57 since he signed precisely a 57 in the first round of the Astara Golf Championship, a Korn Ferry Tour event, last year. And it’s not that he was going to repeat such a score today, but towards the end of his round, he was reasonably aiming for a 59, considering he was ten under in this par 70 and finishing on the par 5 of the 18th… This year, in the first division, he has barely had the chance to shine, and this might be his moment.
– The TPC Toronto is easy on the eye from the tee, and certainly, the rough is not like last week’s, nor next week’s at Oakmont. But in the end, as things are, not everyone can take advantage of its benefits. Rounds of 65 strokes have barely made it into the tournament’s top ten, it’s true, but not everyone has beaten the course, far from it. Rory McIlroy (+1), for example, was one of those who had to head back to the hotel frustrated. The Northern Irishman, who closed his round with two consecutive bogeys, hasn’t managed to get going in any area of the game. He still has plenty of room to recover and make the cut. Thinking of much higher goals would be another matter, as he has already given too much advantage to too many people. Although with this guy, you never know…
– Notable start for the defending champion, Robert MacIntyre (-5), who along with Shane Lowry (-6), Rasmus Hojgaard (-6), the unpredictable Danny Willett (-5), Paul Waring (-5), and the aforementioned Olesen form a strong European advance in Canadian lands, where an American hasn’t won since Dustin Johnson did in 2018. Ah, those were the days when D.J. roamed freely on the world’s best circuit…
