American Dustin Johnson made seven birdies and eagled the final hole in the first round of the Canadian Open, posting a round of 66 to share the clubhouse lead.
The reigning U.S. Open champion did have his troubles, making a bogey and one double bogey after hitting his tee shot on the 14th hole in water, going on to make a six.
But the 11-time PGA Tour winner showed his defiance and bounced back to sit atop the leaderboard, alongside Washington born Luke List.
List, ranked 309 in the world, also sits at six-under after making birdie on five of his first nine holes. This led to a superb bogey-free round of 66, his best on the PGA Tour.
“I was very fortunate that the first five holes there wasn’t much wind at all and then it kind of picked up”.
The 31-year-old American is still searching for his first PGA Tour win after missing 12 cuts this season alone. List looks to build on his T20 finish at the Barbasol Championship last week.
2015 champion and world No1 Jason Day got off the mark with a fine round of 69 and sits three shots back of the leaders on six-under.
Amateur Jared du Toit makes the headlines too after the round of his life, shooting a round of 67 which included an eagle on the par-4 17h hole and a birdie on the final hole, to only be one-shot behind and in prime position going into the second round.
After his round, Dustin Johnson, the world No2 had this to say:
“I just made one bad swing, on 14. Other than that I thought I played really nicely all day long”. “It’s firm and fast… It’s definitely tough to get the ball close to the hole. You’ve really got to land the ball on your numbers. With it being as windy as it was today, it was tough to do that”.
2006 and 2007 Canadian Open champion, Jim Furyk made a nice start to the tournament by carding a two-under round of 70. Whilst Jon Rahm on his Canadian Open debut also impressed by shooting a 67, five-under-par round to be tied for third.
