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Kiwi golfer Danny Lee at the US Masters - Source: Reuters -
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New Zealand golfer Danny Lee has shot a one under 69 in the opening round of the Canadian Open in Toronto to finish the day tied for 51st.
Lee was given a special exemption to play in the US PGA tour event and carded a solid first round that consisted of three birdies and two bogeys.
A bogey however on the final hole meant that Lee trails the outright leader, unknown American Brent Delahoussaye, by seven strokes.
Delahoussaye meanwhile led an unlikely record-smashing
assault, carding an eight-under 62 to sit atop a leaderboard loaded
with unfamiliar faces.
Delahoussaye mixed seven birdies with an eagle and a single bogey
to shatter the competitive course record of six-under 64 at stately
St. George's Golf Club.
The previous record was set by George Knudson the last time
Canadian Open was staged here in 1968.
"I am shocked," said Delahoussaye, whose only professional win came
on the lower-tier Hooters Tour in 2006. "I knew I was playing well,
and I didn't even really know how many under I was at one
point.
"So I just kind of kept going and kept trying to make
birdies."
Delahoussaye's score, which will also go into the books as the
Canadian Open record, left the Louisiana native two shots clear of
compatriots Vance Veazey and Brock Mackenzie.
While the scores were remarkable coming on a classic tight
tree-lined layout, the same cannot be said about the golfers who
produced them.
You have to search the depths of the world rankings to find
Delahoussaye, who occupies the 851st spot, while Veazey inhabits
number 495.
Mackenzie, meanwhile, has not produced enough good results to even
register a ranking.
While all three are searching for their first PGA Tour wins,
Delahoussaye has yet to produce a top 50 PGA Tour finish in five
years as professional.
Certainly, there was nothing on Veazey's resume to suggest the
45-year-old had a record-equaling round in his bag.
In 14 starts this season Veazey has made just four cuts while 20
years as a pro have produced just four Nationwide Tour wins. His
best-ever PGA Tour finish was a tie for 10th at the 2007 St. Jude
Classic.
"I've been doing this a long time and it's been a grind," Veazey
told reporters. "I'm a journeyman.
"I've struggled and had some success. You just keep plugging and
keep believing something good is going to happen."
Even when Veazey has produced something magical on the golf course
his efforts have been overshadowed.
Once before he tied a course record at Cog Hill in the first round
of the Western Open but that same day Tiger Woods went one better,
returning a 63.
In a round full of surprises, Mackenzie may have been the biggest
of all, playing in his first PGA Tour event since 2004.
The trio of unknowns grabbed the spotlight from some of the golf's
more familiar names.
Paul Casey, riding the momentum from a third-place finish at the
British Open, appeared headed for a solid start, going four-under
in a bogey-free round through 13 holes.
But the Briton's day soon began to unravel starting with a bogey at
the 14th and a double-bogey at the last to leave him on two-under
68, six shots off the pace.
South Africa's Retief Goosen, who lost the 2009 title in a playoff
to Nathan Green, opened with a three-under 67.
(Editing by Steve
Ginsburg) REUT
13:28 07-23-10
