Delahoussaye leads birdie frenzy at St. George’s

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This article was published 23/07/2010 (5917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — The players figured their long-awaited return to St. George’s Golf and Country Club would be a painful experience. And then the RBC Canadian Open started.

Unheralded American Brent Delahoussaye led the charge on a birdie-filled Thursday, shooting a record-setting 62 to grab a two-shot lead over Vance Veazey and Brock Mackenzie.

Some predicted 8 under would be good enough to win the tournament on a tree-lined course with thick rough and undulating greens. It ended up being the number beside the name of the first-round leader.

“To be honest, I woke up this morning and looked at the scores and I was like, ‘Wow, I did not see that many low scores out there in the practice round,”‘ said Delahoussaye. “I am shocked. I mean 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.”

He was far from alone as 99 players finished at par or better in the first Canadian Open round played here since 1968. Delahoussaye equalled the best score ever shot at golf’s third oldest national championship and set a new competitive course record at St. George’s.

The 28-year-old is a tour rookie whose only professional victory came at the 2006 Hooters Tour Classic. He’s made just three cuts and less than US$30,000 so far in 2010.

“I haven’t played well this year,” said Delahoussaye. “It’s my first year out and I’ve been trying too hard like everyone says not to do. It just hasn’t clicked. I’ve been getting in my own way.

“This course doesn’t set up good for me so I (decided) to go out there with a good attitude and not worry about it. Look where I am now.”

Calgary’s Stephen Ames and Jon Mills of Oshawa, Ont., both shot 67 to register the best scores among the 18 Canadians in the field. After finishing up a bogey-free round, Ames didn’t expect to see 23 players ahead of him on the leaderboard.

“I was surprised at how many low scores there were,” he said.

The first hint that St. George’s might be there for the taking came from Veazey, a journeyman pro who matched the 64 shot by George Knudson in ’68.

Veazey had an 81 in the final round of last week’s Reno-Tahoe Open and decided to play just 11 practice holes before teeing it up on Thursday. Amazingly, the formula worked to perfection as he set the pace among the morning starters.

“My caddie (Rich Christy) said, ‘I think you need to get there Thursday next week. Let’s just not play a practice round. Forget the practice round,”‘ said Veazey. “And that’s one of the things I’ve tried to do the last couple weeks. I’ve struggled a good bit this year and the last couple of weeks I’ve tried to just practise less and not do so much before the tournament starts.”

Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont., will be fighting to make the cut after opening with a 2-over 72.

— The Canadian Press