OAKVILLE — For a guy who lists sleeping as one of his ‘special interests’ in the PGA Tour Guide, Jason Dufner really woke up the competition at the RBC Canadian Open on Saturday.
Dufner shot a 9-under 63 in Saturday’s second round at Glen Abbey to take the lead at 13-under. The 32-year-old finished his round just before the skies opened yet again at the hard-luck Open. Dufner holds a one-stroke lead over fellow Americans Jerry Kelly and Scott Verplank.
His 63 Saturday was just one stroke off the Canadian Open record for lowest score over 18 holes. A 62 was recorded three times at Glen Abbey, by Greg Norman (1986), Leonard Thompson (1981) and Andy Bean (1983) while Hunter Mahan recorded a 62 at Angus Glen in 2007.
Dufner, a native of Cleveland, picked up eight birdies and an eagle on the par-5 13th and was sitting on the record before putting his second shot into the drink just before the green on the par-5 18, taking a penalty stroke and finishing the hole at par for the 63. He also recorded a bogey on the par4 17th.
“I probably hit it a little better the first day than (Saturday), so I was pretty confident going into (the second round),” said Dufner, who shot a 68 in round one. “But once I made a couple of putts and realized maybe today was going to be a little better putting day than the first day, I had an indication that I could shoot a low score.”
Canadian PGA standouts Mike Weir of Sarnia and Stephen Ames of Calgary finished the second round, with three other players, at minus-7, six strokes back of Dufner.
Weir had a solid day, recording a minus-6 66, with five birdies, an eagle on the par-5 16th and a bogey on the par-4 11th. He had to get a ruling on the 18th when his ball moved just prior to his approach shot, but received a favorable call from the officials and finished with a birdie.
“It was a real good ball-striking day. I drove the ball great,” said Weir. “But I’m going to need to really shoot some low scores (in rounds three and four) because the course isn’t playing hard, the leaders are not challenged with difficult conditions.
“In order to gain six or seven shots when it’s all said and done, it’s going to be a difficult task,” he added.
Ames shot a minus-3 69 Saturday.
For the second straight day, weather was a factor at Glen Abbey, forcing a delay in the start of the third round, which was tentatively scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. There’s talk that if they can’t get a good chunk of the third round in Sunday, the tournament will run through to Monday.
With the rains came a soft, slow course and the players were able to really drive for the pins, the old dart board affect, and the scores echoed the conditions.
“The greens are very receptive and surprisingly they’re putting pretty good. They’re rolling pretty decently. With no wind, soft conditions, the scores are going to be (low),” said Verplank, who won the 2001 Open at Royal Montreal.
As for the weather Verplank said the long waits in the clubhouse between play is frustrating.
“But you can’t get worked up about it. There’s nothing you can do about it,” the Dallas native said. “I think everybody wants to play 72 holes and get a legit tournament in. This is a big tournament for me. So let’s try to do it the right way and if we have to stay here a little longer to get it down the right way, so be it.”
PGA Tour veteran Mark Calcavecchia, meanwhile, set a tour record Saturday for most birdies in a row, posting nine straight. Calcavecchia opened the second round on the back nine and after posting pars on 10 and 11, and then fired off a record nine birdies in a row, to vault to from 69th place after the first round at 1-under 71, to only five strokes off the leader. Calcavecchia shot a minus-7 65 yesterday.
The previous record was eight birdies in a row, held by six players, including Kelly.
