Brandon Hagy was a winner in junior golf, in the amateur ranks and at Cal, but he has yet to break through as a pro.
The 26-year-old Hagy (pictured), trying to show he can play with the best, opened with a 7-under-par 65 and is tied for the lead with Kevin Chappell, Hudson Swafford, Matt Every and Ollie Schneiderjans in the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario.
Play was delayed by rain for nearly two hours and 22 players who were still on the course when darkness came will return to finish the first round Friday morning.
“It was just a solid round,” said Hagy, the 2011 San Francisco City Amateur champion from Westlake Village, whose only bogey came in the 15th hole. “I wasn’t hitting it great to start off, but I just made some putts. Then on the back nine I found something off the tee and kept making putts.
“I’ve been playing well the last few tournaments and made a bunch of cuts. I just have to keep this going and it should be good.”
Chappell, the former UCLA star from Fresno who earned his first victory earlier this year in the Valero Texas Open, made a 16-foot eagle putt on the second hole and a 14-footer for another eagle on the 16th in his 65.
Swafford birdied three of the last six holes to claim his share of the lead, while Every collected seven birdies in a span of 11 in a bogey-free 65, and Schneiderjans had a 14-foot eagle putt on the 13th hole and holed out from 46 yards for another eagle at No. 18.
James Hahn of Alameda and Cal had three straight birdies on his back nine in a 66 and is in a large tie for sixth with Bubba Watson, Tyrone Van Aswegen of South Africa, Smylie Kaufman, Vijay Singh of Fiji, K.J. Choi of South Korea, Chad Campbell, Jim Herman, Peter Malnati and defending champion Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela.
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson is tied for 17th at 67, two-time Canadian Open champion Jim Furyk and Charley Hoffman of Poway are tied for 33rd after 68sand Matt Kuchar, who finished second in the Open Championship last week, overcame a dizzy spell to shoot 71 and is tied for 87th.
