TORONTO: Canada’s Corey Conners grabbed a share of the first-round lead on Thursday at the Canadian Open, where questions over the PGA Tour’s stunning deal with LIV Golf’s Saudi backers continued to dominate the conversation.
Conners had five birdies in a five-under par 67 at Oakdale, joining England’s Aaron Rai and Americans Justin Lower and Chesson Hadley atop a jam-packed leaderboard that featured another nine players one stroke off the lead.
It’s the first time since 2004 that a Canadian has held a share of the first-round lead in the national open, and no Canadian has lifted the trophy since Pat Fletcher in 1954.
Conners got off to a hot start, tapping in for an opening birdie at the 10th. He rolled in a four-foot birdie at the 12th and got up and down for birdie from a greenside bunker at the 18th.
Coming in, he drained a 24-foot birdie at the first and a 12-footer at the seventh.
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But his sparkling effort couldn’t distract attention from the big news of the week – the surprise announcement on Tuesday that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour would join forces with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – the entity that backed breakaway LIV Golf to launch a rift in the global game that has rankled players on both sides for the past two years.
While the news was sinking in, myriad questions remained about how the tour would change, who among LIV golfers might be reintegrated and how players loyal to the PGA Tour might be rewarded.
“Obviously we just have a very, very broad and general framework,” Hadley said after firing a 67 that included seven birdies and two bogeys.
“So, there’s some long-term things that I would like to see and some short-term things – obviously, we just don’t know anything short-term.
“Hopefully, they can get a move on it and they can start giving us some answers to a lot of the questions that we have. I mean, I know nothing.”
Hadley, ranked 297th in the world, has one tour title, at the Puerto Rico Open in 2014 – when he was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.
The 35-year-old said he’d heard talk of star players like Rory McIlroy or Tiger Woods being rewarded for their loyalty to the PGA Tour, and he thinks those rewards should extend beyond the game’s stars.
“Those guys didn’t do the wrong thing, who went to LIV,” Hadley said. “They made a business decision. I don’t hold that against anybody. But I would like to be rewarded for my decision to stay loyal.”
The leading quartet will have to try to keep their minds on golf with 21 players within two shots of the lead.
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, warming up for defense of his US Open title in Los Angeles next week, headed a group of nine on 68.
England’s Justin Rose headed a group of 15 on 69 that also featured Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, making an impressive professional debut.