Canadian Open: First-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff MARKHAM, Ontario -- Hunter Mahan shot a 9-under-par 62 Thursday to grab the early first-round lead. Mahan tied the tournament record with his 62 and set a course record in the process. This is the first year of the current layout and thus a new course record would be established this week.  Hunter Mahan's 62 Thursday was the lowest opening round in Canadian Open history. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
• Hunter Mahan's 62 is the lowest first-round in tournament history. Jim Furyk's 63 last year tied the previous low opening round. On the day, Hunter Mahan hit 12 of 14 fairways, 14 of 18 greens and needed only 24 putts. He had five birdies, three eagles, two bogeys and eight pars. • Hunter Mahan tied his career-best score with his 62. This is the third time in his PGA TOUR career that Mahan has posted a 62. Earlier this year, he carded an 8-under-par 62 in the opening round of the Travelers Championship and led by two strokes. Mahan went on to collect his first win that week by beating Jay Williamson in a playoff. • David Hearn of Brantford, Ontario, shot a 6-under par 65 Thursday morning and is currently the low Canadian among the 20 Canadians entered this week. The last Canadian to win on his home turf was Pat Fletcher of Saskatoon in 1954 at the Point Grey G&CC. Hearn, a member of the Nationwide Tour this year, was also the low Canadian in 2006, when he finished tied for 20th at Hamilton G&CC. • In 29 stroke-play events (with a cut) this year, only six first-round leaders have gone on to win in 2007. Among the six was Hunter Mahan, who captured the Travelers Championship last month. • No golfer may be hotter than Hunter Mahan over the past two months. He has five consecutive top-20 finishes, including a win and has collected $1,758,941 during that span, a total of 83.24 percent of his 2007 earnings of $2,112,957. • Hunter Mahan recorded three eagles during his opening-day 62. He is the first player to accomplish the feat on the PGA TOUR in 2007 and the 21st since 1980. Mahan had two eagles on the par 4s Thursday. He holed a 6-iron from 189 yards on the 439-yard, 18th hole and then he holed a sand wedge from 89 yards on the 372-yard 9th hole. • Five players had three eagles during a round last year on the PGA TOUR: Arjun Atwal, Buick Invitational; Bubba Watson, Zurich Classic of New Orleans; Jason Gore, John Deere Classic; Will MacKenzie, Reno-Tahoe Open and John Huston, FUNAI Classic at Walt Disney World Resort • The last player to register three eagles in a single round at the Canadian Open was Tommy Tolles, in the second round of the 1995 tournament held at Glen Abbey. • Digging into the record books back to 1990, Hunter Mahan is the only player with three eagles in a single round to have two of those eagles come on par 4s. Records are not complete as to which holes were eagled prior to 1982. • Australian Steve Allan shot a 7-under-par 64, his best round of the year and his best since a 64 in the third round of the 2004 B. C. Open. Allan's career-best is a 62 in the second round of the 2004 Sony Open in Hawaii.
• Tripp Isenhour carded a season-best 6-under 65 Thursday morning. Isenhour had missed the cut in his last two starts, the John Deere Classic and the US Bank Championship in Milwaukee. His best finish this year is a tied for fifth at The Honda Classic back in early March. This is his best score since a 65 in the second round of the 2002 Valero Texas Open. • Paul Stankowski shot an even-par 71 despite a quadruple-bogey-8 on his fourth hole of the day, No. 13. Stankowski hit two balls in the water off the tee on the dogleg-left par 4. Tom Byrum also hit two tee shots into the water on that 420-yard hole and also made an 8. • Players who were bogey-free on Thursday were Tripp Isenhour (65) and Olin Browne (66). • Michael Boyd, Ken Duke, Nathan Green, Scott Gump, Corey Pavin and Chris Smith each hit 14 of 14 fairways Thursday. Bo Van Pelt hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. • Hunter Mahan's 24 putts were the fewest in the opening round. Mahan ranks tied for No. 127 in Putts/Round Avg. this year (29.55). Bob Heintz, Troy Matteson, Bryce Molder and Corey Pavin each had 25 putts Thursday. • Nathan Green had 32 putts Thursday en route to shooting a 2-under-par 69. Green ranks tied for fourth in Putts/Round Avg. this year (28.23). • Bubba Watson uncorked a drive of 374 yards on the par-5 first hole today -- the longest of the day. It's not the longest of the year for Watson, who had one measured at 385 yards at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Watson leads the TOUR in Driving Distance with a 315.0 yard average. The longest measured drive of the year belongs to Steve Flesch, who hit one 447 yards during the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Surprisingly, Flesch's year-long average driving distance is 285.2 yards, which puts him tied for 115th on the 2007 list of big-hitters. • The group of Glen Day, Nathan Green and Daisuke Maruyama played the par-5 11th hole in a total of 5 under par Thursday. Day and Green both made eagles, and Maruyama added a birdie. • Kris Cox withdrew during the round due to a back injury. Jason Gore (76) withdrew after the round due to a back injury. John Daly (75) withdrew after the round due to a shoulder injury. John Huston (79) withdrew after the round. |
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