While most of us were sleeping, Graham DeLaet was cruising around the Old Course at St Andrews.
Cruising from tee to green, that is.
DeLaet, the pride of Weyburn, Sask., had a typically great ball-striking day, hitting 15 of 16 fairways, 15 of 18 greens, all aided by a 328-yard driving average. (As I write this, he was second in the field, just four yards behind Bubba Watson.) Not surprising from a man who is 10th in ball-striking on the PGA Tour.
But it was a different story once he reached those cantankerous Scottish putting surfaces.
Again, not surprising from a man who is 99th on Tour in putting. Disappointing, yes. Surprising, no.
Thirty-four putts led to a 1-under 71, after bogeys on 17 and 18. Even had he made those pars, a 3-under would have left him only within distant binocular distance of the leaders, judging from the early scoring Thursday on a benign Old Course.
With tempestuous weather — some would call it ideal Open conditions — approaching for Friday’s second round (100 per cent chance of rain, 35 km/h winds and a high of 19 degrees), DeLaet’s pure swing might enable him to be one of the few to record a red number for two days in a row.
But with the early leader at 7-under, whether he is able to go deep enough to make the cut is another question. At the Open, the top 70 and ties make it to the weekend.
David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., made the turn at 1-under and got it to 3-under after birdies on 10 and 13. Unfortunately, those were more than offset by a bogey on the par-5 14th, a double on the par-4 16th and bogeys on 17 and 18, giving him a 2-over 74.
Hearn, who once led the Tour in total driving, was erratic throughout the opening round, hitting only nine of 16 of the Old Course’s expansive fairways, 11 greens and taking 28 putts.
If only the Old Course, which originally was 22 holes, was only 16 and not 18 today, our Canadians might have had a chance.