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Toronto - Robert Garrigus stormed to the top of the leaderboard at the PGA Tour's RBC Canadian Open in Ontario on Thursday, shooting a nine-under-par 63 to take a one-shot lead in a weather disrupted first round.
The 40-year-old veteran revelled in the conditions at Oakville's Glen Abbey Golf Course to card nine birdies and nine pars in a flawless display at the Jack Nicklaus-designed layout.
Garrigus was swiftly into his groove on the front nine, reeling off five consecutive birdies from the second onwards to make the turn at five under.
Four more birdies, including one on the closing 18th, when he rolled in a 15-foot putt, capped a superb day.
The round was in stark contrast to Garrigus's closing round 79 at the Barbasol Championship in Kentucky last weekend.
"I went from my worst round of the year to my best round, which was a surprise," Garrigus said. "I hit a lot of good shots. It was a good day. Now I've got to try and get ready for the rest of the week."
Garrigus has a history of low-scoring at Glen Abbey. Last year he carded a 10-under-par 62 in the third round.
"It's one of my favourite places, and it's not just the golf course," Garrigus said. "It's the people, the town, just the whole feel of it. I love it here."
Garrigus leads by one from Adam Schenk, who was alone in second place on eight under after a 64.
Schenk moved into striking distance after a late charge which included birdies on his closing three holes.
Chris Stroud was in third spot after a seven-under-par 65. Like Schenk, Stroud had a flurry of birdies over the closing holes to thank for his movement up the leaderboard.
Stroud rattled off birdies on the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th holes, a blitz of low-scoring that owed much to his red-hot putter. Stroud drained putts of 24 feet, 12ft and 11ft during his closing rally.
Four other players meanwhile were in the clubhouse on six under when weather suspended play shortly after 8pm local time.
They included England's Ian Poulter, who shot a six-under-par 66. Ben Crane, Hudson Swafford and South Korea's An Byeong-hun were also on six under.
Ten players were in the clubhouse on five under. England's Tommy Fleetwood was also on five under with two holes remaining when weather halted play.
Fleetwood kick-started his round with an eagle on the par-five second, rolling in a monster 41-foot par.
However the good work was undone with a double-bogey five on the par-three fourth before another bogey on the ninth put him one over at the turn.
Fleetwood rallied down the stretch, going eagle-birdie-birdie-eagle to move to five under before play was stopped.
Leading completed scores from first round of USPGA Tour RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Course, Oakville, Ontario on Thursday (par 72; USA unless stated):
63 - Robert Garrigus
64 - Adam Schenk
65 - Chris Stroud
66 - Ben Crane, Ian Poulter (ENG), Hudson Swafford, An Byeong-hun (KOR)
67 - Ricky Barnes, Andrew Putnam, Rod Pampling (AUS), Chris Kirk, Gary Woodland, Bronson Burgoon, Kim Whee (KOR), Dominic Bozzelli, Zac Blair, Joaquin Niemann (CHI)
