The Daily Wrap-up: Round 2, RBC Canadian Open
OAKVILLE, Ontario (AP) -- Jason Dufner threatened to shoot in the 50s, then settled for a 9-under 63. Mark Calcavecchia made a PGA TOUR-record nine straight birdies. And there were two more aces in perfect scoring conditions at the rainy RBC Canadian Open on Saturday.
Soon after Dufner finished the second round in light rain, heavy showers hit the already-saturated Glen Abbey course, forcing tour officials to postpone the third round until Sunday.
Dufner eagled the par-5 13th to reach 9 under for the round, but played the final five holes in even par -- birdieing the par-5 16th, dropping a stroke on the par-4 17th and saving par on the par-5 18th after hitting into the water.
"I played very well, hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens. Made a couple more putts today," Dufner said. "It started raining at the end, conditions got a little tougher, but 63 is a pretty good score, and leading after two rounds is always great."
At 13 under at softened Glen Abbey, Dufner had a one-stroke advantage over Jerry Kelly (67) and 2001 winner Scott Verplank (67). Nathan Green (65), Peter Tomasulo (68), Martin Laird (69), Pat Perez (67), Camilo Villegas (71), Bob Estes (67), Retief Goosen (69) and Kevin Na (71) were 10 under.
Unable to finish the second round on Friday before lightning forced the suspension of play, Kelly returned on Saturday to play the final three holes.
"I don't think they've got the mowers out there as heavily as they'd like to, so it's getting a little hairy out there," Kelly said.
Calcavecchia opened the delayed second round with two pars, then reeled off nine straight birdies. His nine birdie putts were from 15 feet or closer. With 15-year-old son Eric working as his caddie, Calcavecchia shot a 65 to reach 8 under.
"It's just fly it right to the stick," Calcavecchia said. "You give the guys out here no wind and greens that are plugging, you're going to see a lot of low scores."
Calcavecchia broke the record set by Bob Goalby in his 1961 St. Petersburg Open victory and matched by Fuzzy Zoeller (1976 Quad Cities Open), Dewey Arnette (1987 Buick Open), Edward Fryatt (2000 Doral-Ryder Open), J.P. Hayes (2002 Bob Hope Classic) and Kelly (2003 Las Vegas Invitational).
The streak ended on the par-4 third when the 49-year-old player's chip from over the green went 5 feet past. He saved par to remain 10 under, but dropped a stroke on the par-3 fourth after hitting into a greenside bunker, and bogeyed No. 8.
"I think adrenaline kicked in a little bit, even more than it already was," said Calcavecchia, the 2005 winner at Shaughnessey in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Leif Olson and Casey Wittenberg had holes-in-one on the par-3 15th, the fourth aces of the round on the 132-yard hole -- and the only ones on the hole in 25 Canadian Opens at the course. Olson's ball caromed off playing partner Kris Blanks' ball. All four players won 2009 BMW Z4 Roadsters.
There have been six aces overall, the most since the tour began keeping extensive records in 1971. There were five in the 2004 John Deere Classic.
Canadians Mike Weir (66) and Stephen Ames (69) were 7 under. Pat Fletcher was the last Canadian winner, taking the 1954 event at Point Grey in Vancouver.
Weir was back on the course for the first time since opening with a 71 on Thursday in a round delayed 7 hours because of rain.
"This has been such a crazy week," Weir said. "At least today, I was able to play 18 holes and actually get in some kind of a rhythm."
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| Saturday's Best |
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The par-5 13th hole was the easiest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.438.
The par-4 sixth hole was the toughest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.229.
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Leif Olson aced the par-3 15th when his ball caromed off his playing partner's ball and went in. 
Mark Calcavecchia set a record with nine straight birdies on his way to a 7-under 65 in Round 2. INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Bob Stevens offers these observations from Saturday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
This tournament still has no rhythm to it, a fact brought home by Kevin Na, who told me he had all sorts of momentum coming off his 63 on Thursday, but that not hitting a single shot Friday changed everything, and that he felt like he was starting over Saturday, when he posted a 1-under 71. He's still very much in the tournament at 10 under, three shots back, but is no longer riding any kind of wave.
Like Na (ranked 20th in FedExCup points), Jason Dufner has quietly had a very solid year (he's 47th in FedExCup points) without doing anything spectacularly. He's ranked in the top 10 in ball-striking and the top 20 in greens in regulation, but reminded me of at least three makeable birdie putts in his fabulous 9-under-par 63 Saturday that didn't go down, and he was dissapointed with his bogey, ball-in-the-water-par-save finish. Still, while the round could have been better, he also realizes it could have been a lot worse.
Interestingly, the three guys at the top of the 36-hole leaderboard were all involved in the 36-hole Sunday finish at the John Deere Classic just two weeks ago. Jason Dufner went 71-69 on Sunday in the Quad Cities, Jerry Kelly went 70-70, but Scott Verplank went 69-67 to finish in the top 10. Advantage Verplank? The John Deere winner, or survivor, Steve Stricker, led after 36, is also a long-time veteran, and patiently plodded through the long Sunday at TPC Deere Run. He also took this week off after winning and then flying over to play the Open Championship.
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