VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Lucas Glover stood in the
middle of the 18th fairway Thursday waiting to hit his second shot
to the par-4 hole. He checked his yardage book, waved to a fan in
the gallery and practiced his back swing. He looked like a man who
knew what he was doing.
For most of the day, he did.
The second-year PGA Tour player from Greenville, S.C., made
eight birdies and shot a 5-under 65 to share the first-round lead
in the Canadian Open with veteran Mark Calcavecchia.
Glover and Calcavecchia took advantage of near-perfect afternoon
conditions on the tight, tree-lined and rough-rich Shaughnessy
course.
Jasper Parnevik, who played in the morning, shot a 66.
Defending champion Vijay Singh didn't make a birdie and had
three bogeys in a round of 73. The world's second-ranked player and
leading money winner the past two years again struggled with his
putter, missing several birdie putts from inside 15 feet.
Singh, who declined to be interviewed, never got anything going
and having to wait through some slow play probably didn't help. He
and playing partner Stuart Appleby waited nearly 30 minutes when
three groups stacked up on the par-3 12th hole.
On the next hole Appleby's tee shot caught a tree and dropped
into a small creek about 100 yards from the tee. It took several
minutes to locate the ball. Singh, whose tee shot found a fairway
bunker, bogeyed that hole and the next, after his tee shot again
found a bunker.
It has been a feast or famine year for Glover, who has six
top-10 finishes but also has missed the cut 11 times. It was more
of the same Thursday.
He had the lead alone at 6 under, but bogeyed the par-4 15th,
where his drive found the rough. He then missed 8-foot birdie putts
on 16 and 18.
"I had a couple of chances late and didn't make the putts, but
you can't be disappointed with 65 around here," Glover said.
Glover double-bogeyed the par-4 ninth, where his second shot out
of a fairway bunker ended up behind a grandstand. He then holed a
bunker shot for birdie on the 485-yard 11th hole, the toughest hole
on the course, then birdied the next three holes. He also made a
35-footer on the par-5 seventh.
"I came in thinking this is more of a major course and
everybody is going to have some foulups, so just stay patient,"
Glover said.
Calcavecchia, winless since the 2001 Phoenix Open, got a share
of the lead with a birdie on the par-4 ninth -- his final hole --
where his second shot left him with a 2-foot putt. In a less
dramatic round than Glover's, Calcavecchia had six birdies and one
bogey.
Calcavecchia said his confidence soared after hitting 13 of 14
fairways in Wednesday's pro-am.
"The one I missed, I missed by about a foot," he said. "That
gave me a lot of enthusiasm coming into today's round because if
you don't drive it well here, you're cooked."
Parnevik credited a seven-hour session on the driving range
after his practice round Wednesday for his low round.
"My game didn't feel that great after the practice rounds,"
Parnevik said after his opening round of six birdies and two
bogeys. "I spent, six, seven, eight hours on the range last night.
I found something."
When Parnevik did find the rough, his short game bailed him out.
"The key was the front nine," Parnevik said. "The game felt
pretty good but somehow the ball jumped jut out into the rough or I
just missed the greens. So I scrambled like crazy. Two under on the
front is amazing. It could easily have been 3- or 4-over-par."
Four players were two shots off the lead, among them Todd
Hamilton, the 2004 British Open champion. The others were Scott
Dunlap, a Nationwide Tour player who got into the tournament
through a Monday qualifier, Brandt Jobe and Ted Purdy.
Ten players shot 68s. In that group was Carlos Franco, who
started on the back nine and had it to 5 under through 11 holes,
then made double bogeys at Nos. 3 and 5. Six others were within
four shots with 69s.
Canadian Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, was 5 over after
six holes, then birdied four of the five holes in a back nine of 31
to salvage a round of 71. Weir, who lost the Canadian Open last
year to Singh in a playoff at Glen Abbey, made a 38-footer for
birdie on 18. He could have finished with five straight birdies,
but missed a short putt on 16.<
^Divots:@ Jeff Sluman withdrew because of a bad back after nine
holes in the morning. ... Ian Leggatt, playing on a major medical
extension after wrist surgery, led the 16 Canadians in the
tournament with a 70. ... Canadian Dave Barr, who now competes on
the Champions Tour, was scheduled to play in a record 27th Canadian
Open on a sponsor exemption, but withdrew Wednesday because of a
hip flexor injury.