Robert Garrigus knew it was his day when his golf ball hit a rock in the middle of the creek and bounced out, leading to a birdie.
The 40-year-old Garrigus shot 9-under-par 63 to take a one-stroke lead over rookie Adam Schenk in round one of the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
Much of the field did not finish after play was suspended because of high wind and lightning in the area.
“Could have been 59 there if a couple putts didn’t lip out (on the 10th and 17th holes,” said Garrigus, whose only PGA Tour victory came in the 2010 Children’s Miracle Network Classic. “Got lucky on the par-5, on 13, hit it right in the middle of the water, and it hit a rock and bounced over the thing and I made birdie. I think 20-something-under is going to win, so we’ll forget about it when I get home. This was a good day, get to enjoy it for a minute, but I’ve got to close my mind off.
“I love this place. I’ve always played well in Canada. There’s a lot of good vibes here. And the golf course is absolutely pure. I mean, I was walking on the fairway on No. 8, and it just felt like you were walking on carpet, and you get up on the green, and it’s like grass. The conditions are absolutely perfect.”
Schenk, 26, whose only pro victory came in the 2017 Lincoln Land Charity Championship on the Web.com Tour, birdied the first five holes and last three in his 64, while Chris Stroud birdied six of the last eight and was third 65.
Ian Poulter of England shot 66 and was tied for fourth with Hudson Swafford, Ben Crane, Byeong Hun An of South Korea and Kevin Tway, who was still on the course at 6-under through 15 holes.
Ricky Barnes of Stockton totaled 67 and was tied for ninth with Andrew Putnam of Pepperdine, Rod Pampling of Australia, Chris Kirk, Gary Woodland, Bronson Burgoon, Whee Kim of South Korea, Dominic Bozzelli, Joaquin Niemann of Chile and Zac Blair.
Tommy Fleetwood of England, Cameron Percy of Australia and Stephan Jaeger were still on the course and in the tie for ninth at 5-under.
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson posted a 68 and was tied for 22nd, two-time defending champion Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela was 2-under through 16 holes and tied for 63rd, and fourth-ranked Brooks Koepka was 4-over after 16 holes and tied for 149th.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html
