PGA TOUR Canada – Round one hampered by dangerous weather and heavy rainfall

First Round Leaderboard – The Great Waterway Classic
(Bold denotes Canadian)

T-1. Steven Lecuyer – 66 (-6)
T-1. Will Strickler – 66 (-6)
T-1. JJ Spaun – -6/15
T-4. Trevor Murphy – 67 (-5)
T-4. Brandon Harkins – -5/12
T-6. 7 players tied at -4

(August 22, 2013 – Morrisburg, ON) – Steven Lecuyer of Edmonton, Alberta and Will Strickler of Dallas, Texas shot a pair of 6-under par 66s at Upper Canada Golf Course to share the lead with San Dimas, California’s JJ Spaun during the delayed first round of The Great Waterway Classic in Morrisburg, Ontario.

With thunderstorms across Southeastern Ontario throughout the day, play was originally delayed by three hours and 33 minutes due to dangerous weather, then resumed before being called for the day at 5:07 PM.

Lecuyer and Strickler were tied at 6-under par in the clubhouse, while Spaun was still on the course. One shot behind were Scottsdale, Arizona’s Trevor Murphy, who shot a 5-under par 67, and Brandon Harkins, also of Scottsdale, who was 5-under through 12 holes.

“You could fire at flags with long irons, mid-irons. You know it’s going to stick in the rain,” said Lecuyer, who bounced back from an early double bogey with eight birdies. “This early in the tournament, if you get a double bogey you have to erase it from your mind. I hung in there, so this was a great round for me.”

Strickler, meanwhile, said a hot putter led to his round of seven birdies and one bogey.

“I have to give all the credit to my putting. This whole year I’ve been kind of struggling with my putting, and my ball-striking has been good and the putting’s never really gotten hot,” said the 27-year old, who added that he’s hungry to get a win with only four events remaining on the schedule.

“If you want to finish in the top five you’re going to have to win a tournament and still play well after that,” said Strickler, referring to the top five players on the Order of Merit, who will earn Web.com Tour cards for 2014. “The first step is to win and that’s been my goal all summer, so I’m sticking to it.”

The first round of The Great Waterway Classic will resume Friday morning at 7:30 AM, with round two tee times going from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM and 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM.

Notes:
– Brett Lederer and George Bradford had the sixth and seventh holes-in-one of the PGA TOUR Canada season, respectively, with Lederer carding an ace on the par-3 15th with a 6-iron from 175 yards and Bradford jarring it from 124 yards on the third hole with a pitching wedge
– There has now been at least one hole-in-one in every PGA TOUR Canada event this season
– Thursday’s delay was the fourth suspension of play due to weather on PGA TOUR Canada this season
– Lecuyer’s 66 was his first sub-70 round of the season and tied a career low on PGA TOUR Canada, tying a final round 66 at last year’s The Great Waterway Classic
– Defending champion Eugene Wong opened with an even par 72 and sat tied for 42nd at the end of Thursday’s play