RBC Canadian Open: Thursday notebook
By Doug Milne, PGA TOUR Staff
OAKVILLE, Ontario -- With the threat of inclement weather looming, the lift, clean and place/preferred lies rule was put into effect prior to the start of the round. That rule was in effect in all four rounds of last year's RBC Canadian Open, making it one of just two events in 2008 to do so -- the other was the AT&T Classic outside Atlanta.
• The 2009 RBC Canadian Open is the fifth event of the season to be played with preferred lies. The others:
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• This is the 11th event of the 2009 season to suspend play. Most recently, the John Deere Classic suspended the entire second round because of a dangerous weather situation.
• Play was suspended for the day at 8:46 p.m. with 98 players still on the course. Players will be back in position at 7:30 a.m. Friday to complete Round 1.
• When play resumed at 4:08 p.m., Kevin Na took best advantage of the benign conditions, shooting a career-tying best, 9-under 63 to take the clubhouse lead by two over Joe Durant, Retief Goosen and Scott Verplank.
• Kevin Na birdied seven holes on the front side (his back nine), including five consecutive at Nos. 5 through 9 to finish his round.
• Should Kevin Na's first-round lead hold, it would mark the second time he has held at least a share of the 18-hole lead. He previously held a share of the first-round lead at the 2007 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial before ultimately tying for seventh.
• Kevin Na is competing in his third RBC Canadian Open, with a best finish being a tie for eighth last year.
• Kevin Na is in the midst of his best year since joining the PGA TOUR in 2004. He has seven top-10s to his credit this year, including ties for third at THE PLAYERS and seventh at last week's U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.
• Joe Durant, who shares a tie for second, had the highlight of the day by making an ace at the 147-yard, par-three seventh using an 8-iron to spin it back into the hole.
• Jamie Lovemark, who was scheduled to tee it up today in his first PGA TOUR event as a professional will have to wait one more day to do so as he had an original starting time of 2:05 p.m.
• As an amateur, Jamie Lovemark has previously played in eight PGA TOUR events, spanning back to 2006. His best finish of those eight was a tie for 39th at the 2008 Buick Invitational. The 2009 RBC Canadian Open will mark his first start on the PGA TOUR this season.
• There are 15 Canadians competing in the 2009 RBC Canadian Open, including sponsor exemptions Nick Taylor and Matt Hill. Ranked as the world's No. 1 amateur, Nick Taylor recently tied for 36th at the U.S. Open.
• Hill, who is the second highest ranked amateur in the world, recently won the NCAA Championship.
• Taylor tied for 53th in last year's RBC Canadian Open, the best finish by a Canadian amateur in this event since Nick Weslock tied for 34th in 1972. Hill is competing in his first RBC Canadian Open.
• The players arrived at Glen Abbey this year to a series of welcomed changes to the course. Players will start on the fourth hole and play through nine (new holes one through six). Players then play holes three-one-two, in that order, as holes seven-eight-nine. The other change was re-converting the par-4 16th back into a par 5.
• Steve Flesch withdrew before his round with a neck injury. Bob Tway withdrew midway through his round for personal reasons.
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