At 47 years, 1 month and 4 days, Paul Goydos would become the RBC Canadian Open’s oldest championshould he go on to win.

There’s certainly a lot of golf to be played, but Goydos has a share of the lead at the moment -- and he has a history of playing well on courses where hitting fairways is paramount.

In other words, this venue clearly fits Goydos’ game maybe more than any other that’s played host to the tournament. Prior to this year, Goydos had never posted back-to-back rounds in the 60s in this tournament, for example. And through his first four holes in the third round this year, Goydos is 1 under.

And just look at Goydos’ season to date: He’s made 12 cuts in 19 starts with his best finish a third-place at THE PLAYERS Championship -- where again hitting fairways was important.

As for who the oldest winner of this tournament, that honor belongs to Mark Calcavecchia who won the last time the tournament was held at Shaughnessy G&CC (2005). He won at 45 years, 2 months, 29 days.

Scott Piercy’s sole possession of the RBC Canadian Open lead didn’t last long. Paul Goydos birdied the par-3 8th hole (his 17th of the day) and Chad Campbell birdied the par-5 7th (his 16th of the day) to join Piercy at 4 under. Piercy is through 12 holes in his second round with four birdies and no bogeys. Overnight leader Kris Blanks is currently alone in fourth place. He will begin his second round on the first tee at 4:20 p.m. ET.

Kris Blanks posted two birdies and an eagle on his final eight holes early Thursday to take the round lead at the RBC Canadian Open. Blanks’ 3-under 67 held up as the day’s low round on a very tough Shaughnessy layout, but not without a few scares. Both Matt Kuchar (1 over) and Ben Martin (2 under) were tied with Blanks at one point but could not maintain their positions atop the leaderboard. Sean O’Hair briefly took the lead from Blanks, reaching 4 under after 14 holes, but he closed with three consecutive bogeys and posted a 1-under 69. Martin is part of a group of 11 players tied for second, one shot off Blanks’ pace. Among the others at 2 under are Kodak Challenge leader Bill Lunde, Canadian Matt McQuillan, Paul Goydos and Bo Van Plet. Ernie Els, who traveled to Canada as one of two players from last year’s TOUR Champisonhip by Coca Cola field currently outside the top 125 in the FedExCup standings, is also at 2 under. Defending RBC Canadian Open champion Carl Pettersson opened with a 4-over 74 and is tied for 90th.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

It wasn’t the 59 he shot a year ago, but Paul Goydos will certainly take his opening-round 66 that included four straight birdies at one point on the back nine.

”I'm very happy with the way I played today,”said Goydos, who added the course played much differently this year without the rain it got this week last year.

”It looks like it plays shorter, and it does play shorter under these conditions, but it definitely plays more difficult. It's hard to squeeze it in under those bunkers and stop the ball close, and you really need to hit the ball well or it won't stop at all.”

Goydos was his typical accurate self, especially off the tee, and he made six birdies and just one bogey as a result.

Still, given the conditions Goydos doesn’t expect to necessarily see any 59s this week.

“The guys who are playing well are going to shoot good scores,” Goydos said. “They're just not going to be ridiculous like last year. “

Not surprisingly, there are already some low numbers being shot in the early stages of the opening round at TPC Deere Run, where Davis Love III and Paul Goydos are each 5 under through 11 holes.

Goydos of course opened last year’s tournament with a 59 before going on to finish second.

Seven others, meanwhile, are a shot back at 4 under. Among them? Steve Stricker. He’s won there the last two years and is again in position, at least early on, to make a run at a third straight title.

Stricker is looking to become just the ninth different player since World War II to win a PGA TOUR event three straight years. Last year, he became the first player to win the event in back-to-back years since David Frost achieved the feat at Oakwood CC in 1992 and 1993.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

CROMWELL, Conn. -- With heavy rain now soaking the course -- and thunder and lightning in the area -- it will likely be a while before play resumes. Six players, however, were fortunate enough to finish their rounds before the horn sounded.

Your leader in the clubhouse at the moment? Kris Blanks, who carded a 2-under 68 that included an eagle on the par-4 15th, which is also this week’s Kodak Challenge hole. Blanks drove his ball short of the green on the 275-yard hole, then chipped in for the eagle from just inside 54 feet.

Ben Curtis, meanwhile, is one back after a 69. Curtis has a history of playing well here with four career top-15s in the event, including a pair of top-5s.

Others already done for the day are: Graham DeLaet (70), Scott Stallings (71), Steve Elkington (71) and Paul Goydos (72).

By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM

There aren’t many clubmakers in the world whose products can simultaneously go in a TOUR player’s bag and on a collector’s wall, never even once hitting a ball.

Scotty Cameron inspires that kind of behavior with his famous Titleist-branded putters. There are the TOUR-used models, like Tiger Woods’ famous Newport 2 (in the bag for all 14 of his major titles), then those that collectors crave and sell to the tune of thousands of dollars.

Consequently, his thoughts on the art, science and business of putters are closely followed throughout the

industry, and Golf.com’s David Dusek got those recently in Cameron’s California studio.

Cameron was asked about the latest color craze in clubs, and noted that the classics aren’t going away anytime soon.

“Good ideas seem to come back around, like the white putter, which is nothing new. The White Fang Jack Nicklaus used was really a Bull's-Eye back in that day with the fang on the back [Nicklaus won the 1967 U.S. Open with that putter],” Cameron said. “These ideas come around. I've done red putters with the Caliente. In my experience there are three colors that sell—not that you can't get far-fetched—but there is black, there is silver, and there is gold.”

HE SAID IT: David Toms won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial with a Never Compromise Dinero Tycoon putter, a conventional-length model. Prior to the event, he was asked about the trend on TOUR toward longer putters and whether he had used them.

“I have practiced with long putters before, belly putters. It's a great stroke that way. I have problems setting up with them.

“I think if I could get the set up and feel comfortable I wouldn't mind putting that way because I think it's almost like cheating at times. Especially coming down the stretch last week (at THE PLAYERS) trying to win, you have that nervous factor and nervous energy and all of that and it factors into your stroke sometimes -- where if you anchored something into your body maybe that wouldn't be there. So certainly I would say it's a good way to putt if you can get comfortable.”

SCRATCH GOLFER: Rich Beem switched from Ping G-15 irons to a set from Scratch Golf, the company that once supplied clubs to Ryan Moore and now counts David Duval in its stable of pros. Read more here.

THE LAST WORD: Paul Goydos, last week when asked if he would go from a conventional to a long putter: “I was bad, and I hit some putts with a belly putter. It was worse. My issues with putting really aren't the length of the putt, it's the length between my ears.”

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Rory Sabbatini, who won here four years ago, is among the hottest players who teed off in the morning wave of Friday's second round at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

Sabbatini is 5 under through his first 12 holes, moving him to 7 under for the tournament. That's just one stroke off the lead shared by David Toms and Chez Reavie, who each shot 8-under 62 on Thursday. Toms is scheduled to tee off at 1:24 p.m. ET, and Reavie will tee off at 1:46 p.m. ET today.

Sabbatini had a stretch of four consecutive birdies starting at the ninth hole. At the 10th, he holed out from the fringe just off the green, while at the 12th, he rolled in a putt from just inside 21 feet.

Lucas Glover , winner of the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago, is also making a big move Friday. Like Sabbatini, he's also 5 under through his first 12 holes, leaving him at 4 under for the tournament.

One of Glover's playing partners, Paul Goydos, is also 5 under on his round, putting him at 5 under for the tournament.

Defending Colonial champ Zach Johnson is 2 under through 12 holes and 4 under for the tournament.

Big-hitting Australian Steven Bowditch is 4 under through his first eight holes, moving him to 7 under for the tournament. Bowditch ranks fifth on the PGA TOUR in driving distance.

Like Toms and Reavie, most of the players at the top of the first-round leaderboard do not tee off until this afternoon. They could be dealing with some dicey weather. There is a 70 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms this afternoon.

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Lucas Glover has a beard, the most talked about one on the PGA TOUR. Hunter Mahan has a beard, too.

Paul Goydos used to have facial hair while on TOUR ... in 1996.

Now those three will be grouped together this week in the first two rounds of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. On Thursday, they tee off at 1:24 p.m. ET off the first tee; on Friday, they tee off on the 10th tee at 8:54 a.m. ET.

"I'm older than both of them combined, maybe," Goydos said. Well, not quite -- Goydos is 46; Glover is 31 and Mahan turned 29 on Tuesday. But you get his point.

"That's a great pairing," Goydos said. "Lucas is obviously playing quite well, winning at Wells Fargo. And Hunter has played well for the last three or four years. I'm looking forward to it."

Asked about the need to grow some facial hair in order to match his playing partners, Goydos joked that he had a five-day growth going. It wasn’t that easy to see.

Then he spoke about his goatee, which he sported when he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard back in 1996.

"Arnold didn't appreciate that too much," Goydos said about the goatee. "You don't want to have facial hair when you win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

"Arnold is not a big fan of facial hair. If he asks you to shave, that's what you do."

Goydos then continued the colorful story about his win, the first of his two TOUR victories.

"I was so under the radar at that event, he didn't know who I was," Goydos said. "I walked up on the 18th green. He was like, 'What are you doing? Who are you? Why are you on my green?'

"Well, I won.

"'You need to shave that stuff off.'

"OK, nice to meet you."

Whether the King remembers the story that way, who knows. With Goydos, it's best just to listen and enjoy.

MORE: Notable groups at Colonial | Goydos vs. Day | Featured group this week | Tee times

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- It was a different par-3 -- the 13th -- that cost Paul Goydos this time at THE PLAYERS Championship.

Goydos bogeyed the 149-yard hole, three-putting from 45 1/2 feet on his way to a 3-under 69 Sunday to finish third in a tournament he nearly won three years ago until dumping his tee shot on the par-3 17th in the water during a playoff with Sergio Garcia.

If it’s any consolation, Goydos didn’t lose this tournament, K.J. Choi won it. The 40-year-old Korean finished regulation two strokes ahead of Goydos before beating David Toms in a playoff.

“I'm actually quite pleased with the way I played today,” Goydos said. “Quite frankly, it's a tough course.

“The 13th hole really was a good number. I hit a perfect distance, and just, you know, maybe gunned it a little right to avoid the water, and it just didn't catch the wind there.”

Goydos bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 16th and it looked like he might get some revenge on the diabolical 17th when he hit his tee shot to just inside 12 feet. The ball never took the slope, however, and Goydos missed the birdie putt.

“Has any ball ever stopped on that hill? Ever, ever?,” Goydos said. “I only nudged the ball and it rolled right down into the hole. So it was pretty funky.”

Goydos had little else to be disappointed with this week.

He tied for first in fairways hit and was second in greens in regulation and recorded his best finish of the season.

Goydos also felt a lot more comfortable coming down the stretch this time around. In 2008, he mis-clubbed, using a wedge on the 17th hole, and came up short to lose to Garcia. This time he hit a near-perfect 9-iron.

That experience in 2008 also aided him here this week.

“It did [feel similar to 2008] from a how‑I‑hit‑it standpoint, absolutely,” Goydos said. “I really drove the ball well this week. I hit the ball well. I was really happy with how I hit it. I made a couple of putts, which is something I haven't been doing all year.”