Troy Matteson off to a solid start at the RBC Canadian Open
Troy Matteson, chasing his third PGA Tour victory but his first since 2009 Frys.com Open, tied for the fifth position following a five-under par 65 in the opening round of the RBC Canadian Open.
He raced up the leaderboard with three birdies in the opening four-hole stretch and looked like he was bent on running away from the field at Hamilton Golf and Country Club.
A bogey on the seventh hole took him back to a two-under par score for the round. Yet, he did not stop and once again recorded three birdies on a four-hole stretch, starting from the ninth hole.
Another birdie on the 17th hole took him further close to the leader, Scott Piercy, who fired a course record eight-under par 62. However, a bogey to end the round increased the margin between him and Piercy. He remained at 65 in the end.
Overall, it was a great display of his game, especially when he is not having a good time on the PGA Tour this year. His only top-25 finish came at the John Deere Classic, where he took the runner-up spot after losing to Zach Johnson in the playoffs.
“I didn't start all that well this season,” he said. “And usually I don't get off to a good start, but as of late I've started to hole some more putts and started to save some of those pars, and it makes playing a little bit easier when you're doing those
things”.
“And that's just something I haven't done early in the season. So things are starting to come around, confidence is starting to rise a little bit, and I'm kind of an end-of-the-season player anyway. So I enjoy it,” the 32-year-old American added.
Bo Van Pelt, Jhonattan Vegas, Stuart Appleby, Charl Schwartzel, Gavin Coles and Vijay Singh were the other six players who joined him on the leaderboard with the same score.
Ernie Els, the winner of last week’s British Open, recorded a two-over par 72 to take the share of the 112th position on the leaderboard. His round included two bogeys and a double bogey against three birdies.
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