Five Canucks left standing as McGirt and Piercy share lead at RBC Canadian Open

I am re-writing this from home as I left Hamilton at 4.40pm... Stupid move. It has just taken me 2 1/2 hours in brutal traffic. It took us nearly an hour just to get out of Hamilton and surrounds on the 403, I eventually got off in Mississauga and drove along Eglinton for miles, got back on the 401 at Islington and by then it was 6.30 and all the traffic jams had cleared... Stopped at the LCBO I was so pissed off..  Some of that later..

It was great to see many of my old colleagues but I must say sorry not to see Dave Perkins who has offically retired and Lorne Rubenstein who has lost a close friend and colleague from Winnipeg and has flown out there to pay his respects... Also many new faces in the room....

Here is a little info on the two leaders..

William McGirt (63-66—129, 11-under)
William McGirt is playing in the RBC Canadian Open this week after he qualified with his tie-for-fifth performance at last week’s True South Classic in Mississippi. That was his best PGA TOUR finish in 56 previous TOUR starts. After enjoying four under-par rounds at Annandale Golf Club in Madison last week, McGirt added his fifth and sixth consecutive under-par rounds, with his 63-66 start at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. He’s tied for the lead with Scott Piercy entering the weekend.

Scott Piercy (62-67—129, 11-under)
Scott Piercy followed his Hamilton Golf and Country Club record-breaking 62 Thursday with a 3-under 67 Friday. After missing both the U.S. Open and AT&T National cuts in June and earlier this month, Piercy has reeled off 10 consecutive rounds in the 60s and is 39-under during that period. He tied for 12th at The Greenbrier Classic (66-68-68-68), was solo third at the John Deere Classic (65-69-67-65) and takes a share of the RBC Canadian Open lead into Saturday’s third round

Robert Garrigus was two strokes back after a 66, and Bo Van Pelt was 9 under after his own 66. Tim Clark, Vijay Singh and Josh Teater were 8 under. Clark had a 62, Singh shot 67, and Teater 65.
Bud Cauley had a 63 to join Troy Matteson and Camilo Villegas at 7 under. Villegas had a 64, and Matteson shot 68

Lift clean and place rules were in effect again all day and the sun and humid weather in the afternoon started to dry things out (except for several of the patrons at the spiffy Golf Canada bar and catering set up who were seen staggering up the hill towards the car parks ), however tee times have been moved back until 1030am for Saturday as overnight and early morning rain is forecast.

We were all watching Tim Clark who was -8 with 3 to play, to see if he was going to break Piercy's course record of 62. He missed the 2011 RBC Canadian Open due to injury but he picked up right where he left off, shooting a 62 after parring in. Two years ago, at Royal St. George’s Golf and Country Club, the little South African opened 66-64-69 and was tied for second going into the final round before shooting a 1-over 71 to tie for fourth.
 
Earlier I was following the young rookie Bud Cauley as he shot 7-under 63 which it turns out is the sixth 63 here this week. The kid shot 30 on the back nine. It was Cauley’s career-low PGA TOUR round. He is tied for 8th through 36 holes

round 3 tee times click http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r032/tee-times.html
Live scoring click http://www.pgatour.com/r/leaderboard/


Here are the Canadian scores.. Only 5 of the original 23 have made the cut..

T26 - Hearn, David, Brantford, Ont. 68 – 68 – 136 (-4)
T39 - Choi, Albin, (a), Toronto, Ont. 69 – 68 – 137 (-3)
T39 - McQuillan, Matt, Kingston, Ont. 70 – 67 – 137 (-3)
T53 - DeLaet, Graham, Weyburn, Sask. 69 – 69 – 138 (-2)
T66 - Hill, Matt, Bright’s Grove, Ont. 70 – 69 – 139 (-1)
CUT - Markle, David, Shelburne, Ont. 69 – 71 – 140 (E)
CUT - Hadwin, Adam, Abbotsford, Ont. 66 – 74 – 140 (E)
CUT - Renfrew, Cory, Victoria, B.C. 70 – 70 – 140 (E)
CUT - Ciesielski, Victor, Cambridge, Ont. 74 – 66 – 140 (E)
CUT - Fritsch, Brad, Manotick, Ont.  68 – 73 – 141 (+1)
CUT - Ames, Stephen, Calgary, Alta. 70 – 71 – 141 (+1)
CUT - Hughes, Mackenzie, (a) Dundas, Ont. 71 – 71 – 142 (+2)
CUT - Gligic, Michael, Burlington, Ont. 72 – 72 – 144 (+4)
CUT - Weir, Mike, Bright’s Grove, Ont. 72 – 72 – 144 (+4)
CUT - Doherty, Greg, Mississauga, Ont. 74 – 70 – 144 (+4)
CUT - Parr, Andrew, London, Ont. 75 – 69 – 144 (+4)
CUT - Couture, Rob, (a) Trenton, Ont. 73 – 72 – 145 (+5)
CUT - Mills, Jon, Oshawa, Ont. 77 – 69 – 146 (+6)
CUT - Wong, Eugene, North Vancouver, B.C. 76 – 71 – 147 (+7)
CUT - Ferguson, Ben, Ancaster, Ont. 78 – 69 – 147 (+7)
CUT - Ross, Christopher, Dundas, Ont. 74 – 73 – 147 (+7)
CUT - Taylor, Nick, Abbotsford, B.C. 75 – 74 – 149 (+9)
CUT - McCann, Brian, Mississauga, Ont. 75 – 75 – 150 (+10)


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com and hosting at www.nextsportstar.com