Golf Canada – Mackenzie Hughes is the top Canadian at 5 under par

Friday is Red & White Day with players, spectators, and media encouraged to wear Canada’s colours in support of Canadians in the field

OAKVILLE, Ont. – Hudson Swafford, Kevin Chappell, Matt Every, Ollie Schniederjans, and Brandon Hagy carded matching rounds of 65 to lead the way at 7 under par in the rain-shortened first round of the RBC Canadian Open.

Play was halted at 3:45 p.m. due to dangerous weather and resumed at 5:40 p.m. after a 1 hour and 55-minute delay. Twenty-one golfers were unable to finish their first round when play was officially suspended for the day due to darkness at 8:48 p.m.

Swafford, from Tallahassee, Fla., parred his first hole of the day before pouring in five consecutive birdies to kickstart his round. 

“I hit a lot of quality shots and gave myself a lot of looks,” said Swafford. “That’s all I was trying to do, keep giving myself looks and rolled the putter beautifully.” 

He added three more birdies and just one bogey to put him himself in a good position to chase his second PGA TOUR win of the season following a victory at the CareerBuilder Challenge in January.

Chappell averages 299.9 yards per drive off the tee and took advantage of the three par-5s at Glen Abbey playing them in 4-under-par.

“I hit it really well. Got the ball in play on the par 5s, so I was able to attack those,” said Chappell.

The Fresno, Calif., native has three top-10s on the PGA TOUR this year including a win at the Valero Texas Open and a T7 at The Masters.

Hagy, a native of Santa Monica, Calif., had eight birdies and only one bogey to record his career-low round on the PGA TOUR (in relation to par). Every of Daytona Beach, Fla., had a clean card in his opening round recording seven birdies without dropping a single stroke. 

Like Every, Schniederjans was bogey free. The Dallas, Tex., product chipped in for eagle on hole No. 13 and another on hole No. 18 to go along with three birdies. The former No. 1 ranked amateur in the world has four top-10s on the PGA TOUR this year.

“I took advantage of the par-5s and just played real consistently well off the tee. I was in good positions all day. Just a solid round,” said Schniederjans.

Eleven players are one stroke back at 6-under-par including two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson. The Baghdad, Fla., product had six birdies and zero blemishes on his card recording his first bogey-free round since the second round of the 2016 BMW Championship.

“Today it’s a little softer but you know, light rough, firm greens, but light rough and I feel like I can play as long as I can make a couple putts and that’s what I did,” commented Watson.

Dundas, Ont, native Mackenzie Hughes is the leading Canadian sitting T17 after a 5-under-par 67. Teeing off on hole No. 10 Hughes went out in a pedestrian 1-under-par 36 before heating up on his second nine – carding four birdies in his first five holes to finish at 5 under par.

“It was pretty rock solid, lots of fairways and gave myself some really good looks. The birdie putts I made were relatively close, inside ten feet, 12 feet” said Hughes. “Those are nice days when you can be aggressive from that 15-foot range. It was a fun day.”

Graham DeLaet from Weyburn, Sask., is T33 at 4-under-par. Nick Taylor, (Abbotsford B.C.) is T53 alongside Brantford’s David Hearn at 3-under-par (69).

Team Canada Amateur Squad teammates Jared du Toit (Kimberley B.C.), Hugo Bernard (Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que.) and Austin James (Bath, Ont.) carded matching rounds of 71 for a share of 87th.

Round one will resume on Friday at 8:20 a.m. 

CANADIANS AT THE 2017 RBC CANADIAN OPEN 

T17 Mackenzie Hughes – Dundas – 67 -5
T33 Graham DeLaet – Weyburn – 68 -4
T53 Nick Taylor – Abbotsford – 69 -3
T53 David Hearn – Brantford 69 -3
T70 Bryn Perry – Vancouver 70 -2
T87 Jared du Toit – Kimberley – 71 -1
T87 Hugo Bernard (a) – Mont-Saint-Hilaire – 71 -1 
T87 Austin James (a) – Bath – 71 -1
T106 Mike Weir – Brights Grove – 71 E
T106 Brad Fritsch – Manotick – 72 E
T106 Matt Hill – Brights Grove – 72 E
T121 Daniel Kim – Toronto – 73 +1
T121 Garrett Rank Elmira +1 (16)
T121 Drew Nesbitt – Shanty Bay +1 (16)
T138 Riley Wheeldon – Comox – 74 +2
T146 Adam Hadwin – Abbotsford – 75 +3
156 Ryan Williams – Surrey – +7 (17)

RED & WHITE DAY AT THE RBC CANADIAN OPEN

Friday, July 28 is Red & White Day at the RBC Canadian Open. Players, spectators and media members are encouraged to wear red and white to show their national pride in support of the 17 Canadians playing in Canada’s National Open Championship. Canadian flags will be handed out at the main entrance while supplies last.

INTERVIEW VIDEO, AUDIO AND TRANSCRIPTS FOR THURSDAY, JULY 27
Interview, audio and transcripts for the following players and events from Thursday, July 27 are available here and video is available here. Please note the videos are unedited, uncut and broadcast-quality.

ZTE sponsorship announcement with RBC Canadian Open
Tyrone Van Aswegen
James Hahn
Matt Kuchar
Hudson Swafford
K.J. Choi
Smylie Kaufman
Mackenzie Hughes
Bubba Watson
Johnny Ruiz
Brandon Hagy
Kevin Chappell
Chad Campbell
Ollie Schniederjans
Graham DeLaet
Nick Taylor
David Hearn
Dustin Johnson

2017 MEDIA GUIDE AND PLAYER PERFORMANCE BOOK:
In advance of next week’s championship, media can also download the 2017 RBC Canadian Open Media Guide for complete stats, records and historical information. Media can also download the 2017 RBC Canadian Open Player Performance Book which details individual player statistics from 1904-2016.

TELEVISION COVERAGE:
The following are television times for the 2017 RBC Canadian Open:

Friday July 28 
TSN 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. 
Golf Channel 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Saturday July 29
Golf Channel 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. 
CBS & Global 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Sunday July 30
Golf Channel 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. 
CBS & Global 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

TICKETS:
Grounds tickets for all days of the 2017 RBC Canadian Open, as well as, a limited number of premium ticket packages are still available. A full list of ticket packages and pricing is available online at www.rbccanadianopen.com. Golf Canada and RBC are also pleased to offer FREE admission to juniors 17 and younger—Click here to download a FREE Junior Pass.

GOLF CANADA – LOVE THE GAME. GROW THE GAME.
Golf Canada is the National Sports Federation and governing body for golf in Canada representing 305,000 golfers and more than 1,400 member clubs across the country. A proud member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Golf Canada’s mission is to grow participation, excellence and passion in the sport while upholding the integrity and traditions of the game. By investing in the growth of the sport and introducing more participants of all ages to the game, our goal is to be relevant to and respected by all Canadian golf enthusiasts from coast to coast. For more information about what Golf Canada is doing to support golf in your community, visit www.golfcanada.ca

ABOUT THE 2017 RBC CANADIAN OPEN
Part of the FedExCup, stars of the PGA TOUR will compete for $6 million (US) at the RBC Canadian Open, July 24-30, 2017 at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. Conducted by Golf Canada for more than a century, the RBC Canadian Open provides an opportunity for Canada’s top talents to compete against the world’s best golfers while also leaving a significant impact in the event’s host community. The RBC Canadian Open is proud to support Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada as the event’s official charity partner. Established in 1904, Canada’s national open golf championship is the third-oldest national open golf championship worldwide next to the British Open and the U.S. Open. The RBC Canadian Open is proudly sponsored by RBC, Shaw, BMW Group Canada, Coors Light, ZTE, WestJet, Levelwear, Boston Pizza, Ballantine’s, Toronto Star, FootJoy, Coca-Cola, Metrolinx, Commissionaires, the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario and Ontario 150. For tickets or tournament information, please visit www.rbccanadianopen.com or call 1-800-571-6736. Follow the RBC Canadian Open on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

For all further inquiries, please contact:

Terry Lenyk
Communications Manager
Golf Canada
(c) 416-407-3893
(e) tlenyk@golfcanada.ca