Adam Hadwin hits a shot on the ninth hole during the opening round of the Workday Charity Open golf tournament on July 9, 2020, in Dublin, Ohio.Darron Cummings/The Associated Press
A trio of Canadians are near the top of the leaderboard after the opening round of the PGA Tour’s Workday Charity Open on Thursday.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., posted the highest score among Canadian golfers with a six-under 66. He’s one stroke behind leader Collin Morikawa who shot a seven-under 65.
Nick Taylor, also of Abbotsford, was in a group of four golfers two shots behind back at five under, while Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., shot a four-under 68 Thursday. He is in an 11-way tie for seventh place.
Taylor is playing in his first tournament on tour since the PGA restarted last month during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hadwin, who shot his eighth consecutive round in the 60s, is coming off a tie for fourth last week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.
Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot two-under 70, while David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., carded a 71.
Hadwin bogeyed his first hole before reeling off seven birdies.
“Even the first two weeks back, I felt like I played some pretty decent golf. I just kind of made some rusty mistakes,” Hadwin said.
“I’d hit a ball out of bounds or in the water where I shouldn’t have or maybe try to get too much out of a shot, whereas I think last week it kind of came together. I was doing a lot of the similar things, but I didn’t make any of the mistakes. I felt like there were times where last week where I probably could have gotten a few more shots, but I really didn’t have any risk. It was kind of a free-flowing easy type round and just not a lot of stress. When you can do that through multiple weeks, it helps a lot.”
Taylor took time off as the tour restarted to be with his eight-month-old son.
“Obviously the break was great timing for a lot of reasons ... Have a bit of a cushion, take some more time off, I just really enjoyed being home, so just waiting an extra few weeks, [it] was great to be home,” Taylor said. “Yeah, I’m excited to get back out here and play, but it was nice to be home.”
It was a quiet day of work, typical for the PGA Tour with no spectators allowed in the return from the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. It was never more evident at Muirfield Village, which typically has enough fans to frame just about every hole.
Morikawa goes about his work quietly in any circumstances, and he was dialed in from the start of a relatively calm and steamy afternoon on the course Jack Nicklaus built. His shot into the par-five fifth settled three feet away for eagle. All but one of his birdie putts was inside 12 feet. The only setback was a bogey from the fairway on the 18th.
“It’s a beautiful track. It’s a very tough course, obviously, but you just have to map your way around it,” Morikawa said. “You’ve got to be really smart. If you’re not in the fairway, you’ve got to make sure you play smart. I was playing smart but I felt good with my irons, so I was able to attack some pins when they were accessible.”
He liked it so much that Morikawa is even more excited about spending two weeks at Muirfield Village.
For the first time in 63 years, the PGA Tour will have tournaments on the same course in consecutive weeks. The Workday Charity Open fills a void this year for the John Deere Classic, which decided to cancel without being able to have spectators, a pro-am or corporate hospitality.
The second week at Muirfield Village – the Memorial – was supposed to be the first with fans since the PGA Tour returned June 11. That plan was scrapped at the last minute and it was clear how much work went into it.
There were signs for spectator parking along the streets outside the club. Concession and hospitality tents were a few days away from being completed. There was no point taking them down, because sound travels when no one is around.
Rory Sabbatini found out the hard way. He was at the top of his swing for his opening tee shot when a volunteer some 80 yards away laughed in conversation. Sabbatini flinched, sent his drive well to the right and he stood looking at the volunteer, too far away to realize what had happened.