US Open champion Dustin Johnson sleep-walked through his first four holes before snapping to attention to fashion a one-under-par 71 and remain tied for the lead after the second round at the RBC Canadian Open yesterday.
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The American was in brilliant form at Glen Abbey Golf Club and is firmly in contention to clinch a third win of the year and a 12th PGA Tour career victory. I felt like I played really well. “I have got to say, him shooting low yesterday did motivate me a lot to do a good round”. I feel like I’m swinging really well. But looking back, I hope I inspired some young golfers, some junior players across the country.. “It was kind of a battle the middle of the round there and definitely pleased with the way I finished on the two easy par 5s”. Ive got a lot of confidence in the driver.
Johnson slipped to 3-under after the double bogey at the 14th, but picked up another shot at the par-5 16th and at the 18th a 365 yard drive, which nearly reached the iconic water at the end of the par-5 fairway, set up an approach with a gap wedge and a closing hole birdie.
World No. 1 Jason Day, defending his 2015 Canadian Open title, struggled to a four-over 76.
A 15 foot putt at the par-3 4th gave him his fourth birdie of the day, but he dropped another shot a the next par-3, the 7th, when he couldn’t hit the green off the tee.
Conners shot a 3-over 75 on Thursday and thought he’d played his way out of the event Friday after he double bogeyed on No. 9, his final hole of the second round.
Amateur Jared du Toit (71) of Kimberley, B.C., was briefly tied for first, but a triple bogey sank him into an eventual tie for third at 6 under, joining Spain’s Jon Rahm and American Kelly Kraft.
I like this golf course, said Johnson, ranked second in the world. Campbell made seven birdies and two bogeys, and Kisner did the same, although he birdied his final four holes. “Made some bad bogeys”, said Johnson as List began his afternoon round.
Day said he hadn’t adjusted well to the firm greens this week.
LPGA: The United States lost both of its four-ball matches to England, and Yani Tseng helped Taiwan sweep Australia at the International Crown in the rare team event in Gurnee, Ill.
Lexi Thompson and Cristie Kerr lost, 2 and 1, to Holly Clyburn and Jodi Ewart Shadoff, and Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller were defeated by Charley Hull and Melissa Reid by the same score. Just got off to a bad start. The 21-year-old native of Calgary, Alberta, found himself in a tie for the lead after a birdie on No. 18.
Next up is two more days of four-ball matches at the sprawling Merit Club. The 29-year-old from Raleigh, N.C., who is ranked 268th in the world, recorded his lone PGA win more than two years ago at the Puerto Rico Open.
“I’ve been working on my mindset lately, trying to get in the right frame of mind for the rest of the year”, he said.
Mark O’Meara was a stroke back along with Carlos Franco, Esteban Toledo, Joe Durant, Tom Byrum, Scott McCarron and Peter Fowler.
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Two shots behind Day and Chalmers at 1-under is Monday qualifier Cameron Percy, as well as Queensland’s Rod Pampling and Victorian Stuart Appleby.
