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Montreal • Tim Petrovic and Michael Putnam shared the first-round lead in the Canadian Open on Thursday, shooting 6-under 64 in sunny, breezy afternoon conditions at rain-softened Royal Montreal.
The 47-year-old Petrovic was the last player to get in the field, grabbing a spot when Benjamin Alvarado withdrew Tuesday.
"I didn't set my expectations high because I got in late, so this was kind of my practice round," Petrovic said. "I walked the back nine [Wednesday]."
Petrovic eagled the par-5 12th hole and had four birdies in his bogey-free round. He won his lone PGA Tour title in New Orleans in 2005.
"I was just trying to hit fairways and greens, trying to see the golf course and see if I could make a few putts," Petrovic said. "I drove the ball pretty good overall."
The 31-year-old Putnam had six birdies in a bogey-free round, hitting 11 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens in regulation.
"It was tough ball-striking, but somehow I was able to keep it in the fairway and take advantage of the soft greens to hit a couple of shots close," Putnam said.
Winless on the PGA Tour, Putnam won twice on the Web.com Tour last year and topped the regular-season money list.
Canadian amateur Taylor Pendrith and Kyle Stanley were a stroke back, and former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, Nick Watney and Robert Allenby topped the group at 66.
The 23-year-old Pendrith, making his first PGA Tour start, is coming off his senior season at Kent State.
"I never expected that," said Pendrith, from Richmond Hill, Ontario. "I was playing good golf coming in here, so I just played golf. Five under is pretty nice. Everybody has some nerves. If you didn't have nerves on the first tee something would be wrong with you. But after I played the first hole, I felt calm and felt I should be here."
LPGA International
Yani Tseng made a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to give Taiwan a sweep of the top-seeded United States team in the opening round of the International Crown in Owings Mills, Md.
Tseng and Phoebe Yao never trailed in a 1-up win over Stacy Lewis and Lexi Thompson. Earlier, Candie Kung and Teresa Lu beat Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr 4 and 3.
British Senior Open
Bernhard Langer made a statement when he opened with a 6-under-par 65 to take a two-stroke lead over Bob Tway in the British Senior Open at a sweltering Royal Porthcawl in Bridgend, Wales. —
Thursday's scores
Canadian Open
At Royal Montreal Golf Club, Blue Course
Silvis, Ill.
Purse • $5.7 million
Yardage • 7,143; Par • 70 (35-35)
First-round leaders
a-amateur
Michael Putnam 31-33—64
Tim Petrovic 31-33—64
Kyle Stanley 35-30—65
a-Taylor Pendrith 32-33—65
Justin Hicks 36-30—66
Charlie Wi 32-34—66
Greg Chalmers 34-32—66
Nick Watney 32-34—66
Robert Allenby 32-34—66
Troy Merritt 32-34—66
Bo Van Pelt 30-36—66
Dicky Pride 30-36—66
Charl Schwartzel 33-33—66
Jason Bohn 34-32—66
Joel Dahmen 34-32—66
Tim Wilkinson 35-32—67
Gonzalo Fdez-Castano 33-34—67
Matt Bettencourt 32-35—67
Jerry Kelly 34-33—67
Tim Clark 33-34—67
Scott Brown 34-33—67
Ken Duke 31-36—67
Andrew Svoboda 31-36—67
Bryce Molder 31-36—67
Nathan Green 32-35—67
Alex Prugh 32-35—67
David Hearn 33-34—67
Charlie Beljan 33-34—67
Ben Curtis 33-34—67
Jim Furyk 34-33—67
J.J. Henry 36-31—67
Senior British Open
At Royal Porthcawl Golf Club
Bridgend, Wales
Purse • $2 million
Yardage • 7,021; Par • 71
First-round leaders
Bernhard Langer 65
Bob Tway 67
Chris Williams 68
Andrew Oldcorn 69
Pedro Linhart 70
Rick Gibson 70
Kenny Hutton 71
a-George Zahringer 71
Scott Dunlap 71
Jamie Spence 71
David Frost 71
Fred Couples 71
Steve Jones 71
Peter Fowler 71
Jeff Hart 71
a-Chip Lutz 72
Philip Walton 72
Kirk Triplett 72
Colin Montgomerie 72
Dan Forsman 72
Jim Carter 72
Gary Hallberg 72
Carl Mason 72
Des Smyth 72
Olin Browne 72
Barry Lane 72
Simon P Brown 72
Ross Drummond 72
Katsuyoshi Tomori 72