The first round of The Open Championship has not been an easy one for the Canadians thus far.<\/p>\n
Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith and Mackenzie Hughes all drew early tee times Thursday\u00a0and largely struggled to rounds above par at a rainy Royal Portrush.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Conners, a native of Listowel, Ont.,\u00a0was the best of the three, firing a 3-over 74 with four bogeys and one birdie on the day. Three of Conners’ bogeys came on the front-nine before he largely steadied himself on the back. He sat in a tie for 108th at the conclusion of his round.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matt Fitzpatrick,\u00a0Jacob Skov Olesen and\u00a0Haotong Li held the early clubhouse lead at 4-under Thursday morning with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler one back at 3-under.<\/p>\n
Pendrith, from Richmond Hill, Ont., carded a four-over 75 while Dundas, Ont.’s Mackenzie Hughes struggled to an 8-over 79.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pendrith began his round with a double-bogey and also made bogey on two of the next three holes, putting him at 4-over through four. He got one back with a birdie on the fifth hole but was unable to dig out of the hole any further, making two bogeys and one birdie the rest of the way. He sat in a tie for 95th Thursday morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hughes found himself in the red after making birdie on the par 4 second hole, but ended up making 10 bogeys on the day to put him in a tie for 116th. Brian Newman and K.J. Choi (10-over) were the only players with\u00a0higher scores as of early Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C. was the fourth Canadian in the field this week in Northern Ireland. He drew a mid-afternoon tee time and was 2-over through his first three holes.<\/p>\n