Waite Leads After First Round at Bell Canadian Open
Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:17:22
Waite's 64 shattered Angus Glen's course record by a convincing four strokes and edged former Bell Canadian Open champion Billy Andrade, Per-Ulrik Johansson, Neal Lancaster and Greg Chalmers out of the top spot. With three rounds left to play, Waite is cautiously optimistic about his chances.
"I'm excited to play well," said Waite. "It's only the fist day; however my goal is to go out there and compete. Hopefully if I can get into the rhythm and play at the level that I played today through the four days, then I'll have a chance to win."
Despite a cluster of low rounds by the leaders, scores ranged from -8 to +11, with a scoring average of 72.426.
Holding the top Canadian spots are Ian Leggatt of Cambridge, Ont., and Mike Weir of Bright's Grove, Ont. Both players shot an opening-round 69 to finish tied for 15th.
Leggatt said that although he's satisfied with his 3-under start, he could have easily gone lower.
"I hit the ball as good today as I've hit it probably in the last three months. But I had a couple bad breaks," said Leggatt, who was 5-under after 14 holes, but bogeyed the next two and finished his round with missed birdie opportunities on 17 and 18.
"I thought the putt I hit on 17 was going in for sure; also, the chip on 18 - I don't know how either one of those missed," he said. "I was a little disappointed when those shots didn't go in. I had an opportunity to shoot 6-, 7-, 8-under-par today. I really only made one putt over about five feet out there. I could have had a really good score today."
Leggatt is one of 18 Canadians originally in the field for this week's championship. However, only 16 will tee it up tomorrow. Gordon Burns of Ajax, Ont. withdrew this morning due to an injury, while amateur Dan Swanson of Surrey, B.C. was disqualified following today's round for signing an incorrect scorecard.
Round one Canadian results:
Ian Leggatt -3
Mike Weir -3
David Morland IV -2
Glen Hnatiuk -2
Dave Barr -1
Richard Zokol E
Jim Rutledge E
James Lepp E
Jon Mills E
Derek Gillespie E
David Hearn +1
Lee Curry +2
Rob McMillan +3
Todd Doohan +5
Michael Mezei +6
Todd Fanning +6
Dan Swanson DQ
Gordon Burns WD
Full field results and second round pairings are available at www.bell.ca/cdnopen.
Bell Canadian Open action continues through Sunday at Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham, Ontario. Tickets for Friday and Saturday are available at the gate, or by calling 1-800-510-OPEN. Final round badges are sold out.
