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Low scores dominate at Canadian Open

Vaughn Taylor felt fortunate to survive a boating accident last year. Emiliano Grillo felt fortunate to get into Canada in time to play the Canadian Open.On Thursday, they made the most of morning tee times to claim spots at the top of the leaderboard. Grillo shot an 8-under 64 to take the RBC Canadian Open lead, while Taylor shot a 7-under 65 to tie Brian Harman for second after the first round.
David Hearn
David Hearn from Branford

OAKVILLE, Ont. — Vaughn Taylor felt fortunate to survive a boating accident last year. Emiliano Grillo felt fortunate to get into Canada in time to play the Canadian Open.

On Thursday, they made the most of morning tee times to claim spots at the top of the leaderboard. Grillo shot an 8-under 64 to take the RBC Canadian Open lead, while Taylor shot a 7-under 65 to tie Brian Harman for second after the first round.

Taylor is almost a year removed from his fishing boat capsizing on Lake Thurmond between South Carolina and Georgia. The 49-year-old who birdied eight holes at Glen Abbey Golf Club in the first round gained some perspective on his sport and life from the August 2014 accident.

“It still does,” Taylor said. “I kind of remind myself of it to say, ’Hey, let’s not take this day for granted and make the most of it.”’

Taylor panicked in the water before swimming to safety. Grillo didn’t panic earlier this week when it looked like he wouldn’t be able to cross the border from the United States.

Grillo qualified for the RBC Canadian Open by finishing in the top 10 at the Barbasol Championship in Alabama, which he only did by picking up back-to-back birdies. After driving to Atlanta and flying to Buffalo, the 22-year-old Argentine didn’t have time to wait for the necessary work visa to get into Canada.

After he waited, border officials told Grillo just to pay for the visa and go. He followed up that “lucky” break with a bogey-free round to grab the lead.

“I played better on the back nine, which is harder, and the greens were drying out,” Grillo said. “I kept hitting some solid shots until the end of the round, and I made some good putts on the back nine.”

David Hearn and Adam Svensson tied for the best start by a Canadian player at 3-under 69.

“I played a solid round of golf, and that’s what I needed to do,” Hearn said. “If I can hit a few more greens tomorrow, I like my chances.”Graham DeLaet’s tough. He’s a golfer.

The Weyburn, Sask., native injured his left thumb during the first round of the RBC Canadian Open but still finished his round and expects to keep playing Friday. Frustrated by the injury, DeLaet was glad to shoot even-par 72 Thursday to sit eight strokes off the lead.

“I was able to kind of grind away there at the end with a couple good birdies on 16 and 18,” said DeLaet, who was injured on the 12th hole and double-bogeyed No. 17. “We (tee) off tomorrow morning. As long as I feel healthy, if I can shoot 4- or 5-under, (I can) kind of just slowly kind of creep back in this tournament.”

DeLaet said he wasn’t able to move his hand back on drives and felt pain when he released on shots. That caused the ball to flare right, something he had to compensate for.

As for what’s next DeLaet guessed doctors would tell him to ice his hand and possibly give him some anti-inflammatory medication.

“This tournament means a lot to me,” he said. “Hopefully we can get it figured out.”

DeLaet is one of 16 Canadians in the field this week at Glen Abbey Golf Club. David Hearn and Adam Svensson were tied as the low Canadian at 3-under 69.

“Took advantage of the par-5s really nicely,” Hearn said. “I’m obviously not too happy I made bogey on the last there, but I’m still within reach of the leaders. I certainly didn’t play my way out of it.”

The same could be said for Svensson and Nick Taylor and Roger Sloan, who shot 2-under.

Taylor, who his first PGA Tour event in November at the Sanderson Farms Championship, noticed a little more fan support than in past events. But he considers the high expectations for Canadians in the Canadian Open a self-created thing.

“I think we pressure ourselves,” Taylor said. “We just really want to play well just for this tournament for the fans, being the one tournament a year in Canada. But it’s nothing but support that all the fans have given us. It’s more ourselves.”

A Canadian hasn’t won the event since Pat Fletcher in 1954.