Kris Blanks grabs outright lead at the crowded leaderboard of RBC Canadian Open
Kris Blanks barely managed to edge past the field at the RBC Canadian Open on a tough first day at the Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was one shot better than the fast approaching contenders, posting a humble three-under,
67 when just 21 players were able to break par at the difficult tree-lined Shaughnessy GC.
Blanks owes his early lead to the brilliant front nine, where he pulled in two birdies and a glorious eagle at Par-five, 7th and dropped just two shots on the first day.
“I can't see any day this course is going to be easy,” Blanks said. “It's definitely going to be national championship style, where pars are good, and when you get in trouble just make sure you don't get anything over bogey.”
Blanks has been a frequent visitor of the Canadian west coast, more due the fact that his wife Tami hails from the suburbs of Vancouver, but has never played in the scenic Canadian town. He decided to give it a try at the relatively new turf after missing
11 of the 22 cuts on the PGA Tour so far.
“When you are traveling with two kids and a suitcase full of Christmas presents the last thing you want to do is drag your golf clubs,” Blanks added.
No fewer than 11 players are tied for the second place with their first round scores of two-under, 68 each, including Americans Brett Quigley, Bill Lunde, Kevin Kisner, Woody Austin, Bo Van Pelt, Paul Goydos, Jimmy Walker, Ben Martin, Canadian Matt McQuillan
and South African Ernie Els.
Els’s early run at the Shaughnessy was a promising one as the World Golf Hall of Famer has been battering poor form since the start of the season. He has missed four cuts including the Open Championship and has yet to post a Top-10 finish on the tour for
the season.
“This is the way a national open should be,” said Els. “It should be played as tough as possible on a very stern test.”
Another group of nine players is tied for the 13th spot, just two shots behind Blanks, causing a logjam on the leaderboard. Rickie Fowler, Ben Crane, Lucas Glover and Chad Campbell are few of the nine players at the 13th place.
World number one Luke Donald finished with an even-par, in contention with 14 other players. He pulled in five birdies but fell in for two dreadful double-bogeys and a late bogey to lose his lead. Donald remarked the roughs as the toughest he has played
all season and narrower fairways post a stiff challenge to hit the greens in regulation.
The RBC Canadian Open has a purse of $5.2-million with a winner’s prize share of $918,000.
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