Hot Starts
Three players came storming out of the gate Monday at the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada.
Lance McCullough (The Ridge Course at Cordova Bay), Roger Beale (Royal Westmoreland) and Danny King (The Performance Academy at Magna) each posted opening round 7-under par 65s and were four strokes clear of the field at day’s end.
Through the first round at the PGA Golf Club’s Ryder Course in Port St. Lucie, Fla., 32 players were even par or better.
With six millimetres of rain falling overnight on Monday and humid conditions reaching the high 20s Tuesday, players took full advantage of prime scoring conditions.
“Off the tee it wasn’t too much of a factor if you could carry it far enough,” says King about the soft fairways. “But, hitting wedge shots you’re licking your chops because you can throw it right at the hole.”
King, a two-time (2005 and 2006) winner of the PGA Club Professional Championship, has a chance to join Gar Hamilton and Yvan Beauchemin as the only players to win the championship three times. With the victory, the 44-year-old also has an opportunity to become the No. 1-ranked player on the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC and earn 2011 Player of the Year honours.
While many weren’t surprised to see King go low after the first round and sit atop the leaderboard, Beale and McCullough say they didn’t expect to see themselves there as well.
“To be honest I’m the most surprised guy that it added up to 65 today,” McCullough admits. “The expectations weren’t there, but once you start to hit a few shots and make a putt or two, you just kind of enjoy it while you can.”
“I haven’t played much golf at all. Tournament wise certainly it’s been about two years,” Beale says. “I just made a few putts, got a bit of confidence and kept the ball out in front of me.
The 100-player field will be cut to the low 70-players (and ties) after Tuesday’s second round.
Team Ontario leads the Inter-Zone Team Competition at 9-under-par, three shots ahead of the Ottawa Zone, while Alberta and Quebec four back.
View the full leaderboard
View the pairings for Tuesday’s second round of play
Follow the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada all week long on the PGA of Canada’s website, Twitter feed and YouTube page.
For more information contact:
Chris Fry
Communications & Social Media Specialist
PGA of Canada
chris@pgaofcanada.com
416.543.2724
Adam LeBrun
Tournament Director
PGA of Canada
adam@pgaofcanada.com
416.886.4819
About the PGA of Canada:
Established in 1911, the PGA of Canada is the second oldest and third largest professional golf association in the world. The PGA of Canada is a non-profit Association comprised of 3,700 golf professionals across the country. The Association’s mandate is to develop, promote and support our Members as experts in the game and business of golf and, in so doing, serve both its Members’ needs and those of the golfing public through the Association’s varied programs and events. The Association consists of the National Office located in Acton, Ont., and nine Zone Offices across the country. For more information please visit, www.pgaofcanada.com
About Acushnet:
The Titleist & FootJoy brands have a tradition of excellence that have always been predicated on providing golfers with quality and performance superior golf equipment. The Canadian PGA Golf Professional has a tradition of excellence devoting their careers to helping golfers improve and enjoy the game. Together, Acushnet and the Canadian PGA Golf Professional share a successful relationship of providing the golfer with best in class products and services. For more information, visit www.titleist.com and www.footjoy.com.